Lindsay Woolford Cranstoun and Another –v- Notta [2021] Costs LR 47 Following the October 2020 amendments to the Rules in respect of budget variations, Mr James Mellor QC (sitting as Deputy Judge of the High Court) considered the circumstances where a successful party has overspent on their approved budget, but has succeeded at Trial…
Kathryn Regan Following amendments to the Rules in respect of revising budgets in October 2020, a recent Judgment of Master Kaye in Persimmon Homes & Taylor Wimpey –v- Osborne Clark LLP has highlighted the need for parties to act promptly when seeking to revise their budget. The Facts In December 2020, the Claimants issued…
Rebecca Mogford Criterion Buildings Ltd v McKinsey and Another (Costs) This was a case involving a dispute in respect of what award for costs should be made by the Court. There was an agreement between the parties as to the sum to be paid on account, however, what was not agreed was the basis…
Jack Holland In the recent case of JMH (By her Litigation Friend AB) v CFH and Another [2020] Costs LR 1681 focus was placed upon the ability of a practitioner’s ability to secure costs at solicitor’s rates as opposed to litigant in person rates when acting as an agent for their firm. The background…
Jack Holland The case of Godfrey v Automotive Products Limited was a claim for noise-induced hearing loss where the claim settled pre-issue in the sum of £2,000.00. As part of the claim for costs, a sum of £388.71 was sought within the Bill of Costs totalling £7,233.48 for the interests of a funding loan which…
Jack Holland A Court of Appeal judgment on the termination of Damages Based Agreements (DBA’s) has recently been handed down in the case of Zuberi v Lexlaw Limited seemingly bringing to an end the uncertainty surrounding termination prior to conclusion and the ability for a Solicitor to recover its’ costs. The facts of the…
Be careful regarding interest on disbursement funding loans and advice given to Clients regarding recovery of the same. Master Gordon Saker made it clear in Marbrow v Sharpes Garden Services Ltd[2020] EWHC B26 (Costs) (10 July 2020) that interest paid on a disbursement funding loan was not regarded recoverable as an item of cost or,…
Rebecca Mogford As we have recently reported, Guideline Hourly Rates have been something of a hot topic over the last few months. We have now received the eagerly anticipated working group report for consultation from the Civil Justice Council. The report provides a number of recommendations and reminders, namely, :- It is re-iterated that…
Grant Scully ACC & Ors (property and affairs deputy; recovering assets costs for legal proceedings) [2020] EWCOP 9 It can be quite common for litigation to occur while a deputy is acting, or for a deputy to act before litigation has concluded. However, what happens when the solicitor conducting litigation tries to recover costs…
Rebecca Mogford Over the last few months we have had a flurry of activity from various cases and commentary from the judiciary on hourly rates. With what has been a challenging year at times for the legal industry, these developments have been warmly received. As previously mentioned in our articles Master Gordon Saker pushing in…