Despite being introduced in April 2013 the new test of proportionality had not been given much thought by the courts. Then suddenly, two cases in quick succession have been decided in which we finally have some detailed guidance on how the new test of proportionality will be applied. BNM v MGN Limited [2016] EWHC B13…
The awarding of issue based costs – a recent decision overturned There has always been discretion available to the Court to make issue-based costs orders where a party succeeds on only part of its case. Where a Claimant beats its own Part 36 offer, but succeeds in only part of its case, can the Court…
Webb Resolutions Ltd v Countrywide Surveyors Ltd [2016] Ch Div (4 May 2016) A High Court Deputy Master held that a Defendant was entitled to costs of and incidental to a professional negligence claim where the Claimant had notified the Defendant of the claim under the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence, proceeded to issue the…
REFUSING TO ENGAGE IN COSTS MEDIATION – RESULTED IN SANCTIONS In the recent case of Reid v Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust [2015] EWHC B21, a refusal to engage in Mediation in the costs claimed in Detailed Assessment proceedings resulted in sanctions. This is the first case in the SCCO where sanctions have been imposed on the…
As is often the case these days another Civil Procedure Rule update brings another change to the rules concerning costs. The statutory instrument containing the amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules has now been confirmed and the update contains amendments to both the Practice Directions (PD) in respect of costs management and budgeting and the…
With effect from the 1st October 2015, CPR 47.6 was amended to alter the requirements for the commencement of Detailed Assessment proceedings. In cases in which a costs management Order has been made, a breakdown of the costs for each phase of the proceedings must be provided. This means that the Court will be paying even…
Two years on since the introduction of Costs Management, MRN start off 2016 by looking at the latest Costs Budgeting guidance and tell you, in a nutshell, what you can learn from it. Excelerate Technology Ltd v Lindsey Cumberbatch and red Foot (2015) The court may not consider application for varying costs budgets once the…
With the Jackson reforms bringing fixed costs to RTA, EL & PL claims, a Commercial Court Judge stated that a tariff of recoverable costs would likely be introduced in the commercial arena. Mr Justice Flaux was addressing litigators at the Law Society’s commercial litigation conference when he said ‘My own view is that where we are heading…
The issue of the extreme cost incurred as a result of Clinical Negligence claims has made several news articles over recent months. A notable article published by the Guardian newspaper online (“NHS sounds compensation alarm after £120,000 lawyer bill for £5,000 claim”) claimed that a third of the £1.1bn paid out by the NHS in…
Damage based Agreements (DBAs), also known as Contingency Fee Agreements, were permitted to be used in contentious work from the 1 April 2013 following the recommendations made by Lord Justice Jackson. However, the lack of firms taking up the option was striking and the Master of the Rolls was asked to undertake a review of…