Overview by Vikki Weinrich-Cooke This case involved issues relating to a Claimant’s freedom to instruct a solicitor of his own choosing as provided for under EU Directive and Statute. The circumstances at first instance related to the Appellants’ restriction of freedom of choice as prescribed by Statute. The Appellants had the benefit of Legal Expenses…
This case is an early example of the Court’s approach to costs management and budgeting and indicates the approach the courts will take when considering whether to depart from approved costs budgets. The case was conducted under the Defamation Scheme set out in Practice Direction 51D and although the claim settled shortly before trial, both…
BTE insurance is taken out before an actionable event has occurred in order to insure against the risk of future legal costs. It is often purchased as an ‘add-on’ to existing policies. The majority of people who purchase this are not aware of the coverage it provides and rarely make use of it. Whilst the government…
WHAT IS IT? Essentially it is a device to civil litigation funding that bars a Defendant from recovering its costs from a Claimant who is unsuccessful. The new rules are set out at CPR 44.13 to 44.17. It is important to bear in mind that this applies only to personal injury cases and appears to…
Provisional Assessment of Costs has been on trial in a number of Courts for some time and is going to be extended under the new Civil Procedure Rules coming into effect from 1 April 2013. Provisional assessment is going to be covered by CPR 47.15 and applies to detailed assessment proceedings commenced in the High…
(updated 01/08/13) WHAT ARE THEY? The government put forward a proposal in November 2012 regarding the extension of the RTA Personal Injury scheme regarding fixed recoverable costs. The Ministry of Justice set out the proposals of the amount the costs should be fixed at in their Consultation Response on 27 February 2013. The 65th update…
RTA/EL/PL Portals: The Road Traffic Accident Protocol applies to all claims for damages arising from a Road Traffic Accident (RTA); in the new version, the use of the portal is mandatory with the upper limit being set at £25,000.00 (the old upper limit had been £10,000.00). If at any point during the proceedings, the Defendant…
RTA/EL/PL Portals: The Road Traffic Accident Protocol applies to all claims for damages arising from a Road Traffic Accident (RTA); in the new version, the use of the portal is mandatory with the upper limit being set at £25,000.00 (the old upper limit had been £10,000.00). If at any point during the proceedings, the Defendant…
WHAT ARE THE CHANGES? PART 36: The changes apply where the Claimant obtains Judgment against the Defendant that is at least as advantageous to the Claimant as the proposals contained in the Claimant’s Part 36 offer (Rule 36.14 (1)(b)). In this situation, under Rule 36.14 (3)(d) the Court will, unless it considers it unjust to do…
What Is It? A Damages Based Agreement (DBA) is a private funding arrangement between a representative and a client whereby the representative’s agreed fee is contingent upon the success of the case and is determined as a percentage of the compensation received by the client. Under a DBA the representative may not recover costs more…