David Burke In the recent case of Heathfield International LLC v Axiom Stone” (London) Ltd [2020] EWHC 1075 (Ch) the 2nd Defendant filed their Costs Budget out of time. They issued an application for relief from sanction and may well have expected to obtain the same in light of the approach to be taken following “Denton”…
Jack Holland In the recent case of Utting v City College Norwich [2020] EQHC B20 (Costs) Master Brown has rejected the Defendant’s submissions that an underspend should amount to a good reason to go behind the budgeted sums to allow a line by line assessment of costs incurred. Master Brown examined the contrasting authorities on…
Jack Andrew Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (‘QOCS’). A topic revered by any cost practitioner and one that does not seem to be going away any time soon. The above case previously proved very helpful assistance with respect to answering the question whether it was possible to contract out of fixed costs, and indeed, reference…
Avi Dolties A question of reason says XDE v North Middlesex University Hospital Trust [2020] EWCA Civ 543 Court of Appeal upholds High Court decision in XDE v North Middlesex University Hospital Trust [2020] EWCA Civ 543. Back in July 2019, we reviewed the case of XDE v North Middlesex University Hospital Trust [2019] EWHC…
Kathryn Regan Hot on the heels of guidance agreed by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and the Forum of Insurance Lawyers and a protocol agreed between the Association of British Insurers and Thompsons Solicitors, aimed at opposing parties acting more cooperatively during this period of change and uncertainty, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed…
Rebecca Mogford Uncertain times? “Do what can be done safely” is the message from the Courts. The Lord Chief Justice has issued guidance which makes it clear that the default position is that Hearings should take place by video or telephone. Furthermore, he believes the rules in both the Civil and Family Courts are…
Jack Andrew Turner -v- Cole The question of whether it is possible to contract out of fixed costs and whether such phrases as ‘costs payable on a standard basis’ or ‘reasonable costs’, constitute any such parties’ intentions, has rumbled on for a number of years in costs litigation. However, one of the latest cases on…
Lindsay Woolford Following the recent publication of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee Minutes from December 2019, it is welcome news that Guideline Hourly Rates look set to be reviewed given that they were last updated nearly ten years ago. This follows the recent decision of Mrs Justice O’Farrell in Ohpen Operations UK Ltd…
Terri Shepherd-Taylor The question of whether a hearing fee is recoverable when a Claimant was eligible for a remission, but a fee remission was never considered, was recently dealt with on appeal in the case of Ivanoy v Lubble. The Circuit Judge had to consider many issues in reaching the decision as to…
Anna Lockyer Ohpen Operations Ltd v Invesco Fund Managers Ltd O’Farrell J described the lack of change to hourly rates since 2010 as “unsatisfactory” when summarily assessing costs in an application in the case of Ohpen Operations Ltd v Invesco Fund Managers Ltd [2019] EWHC 2504 (TCC). An increase to Senior Courts Costs Office…