Insurance: Funding a losing battle

David Sawtell reviews the impact of Excalibur ‘Having chosen to leave everything in the hands of Excalibur and Clifford Chance, the funders had to bear the burden of the costs caused to the defendants.’ Litigation funders have an important role to play in commercial litigation. As part of the research for his review of civil …
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Trust And Probate Claims: Counting the cost

Alexander Learmonth examines the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision on the costs of the claim for rectification of a will in Marley v Rawlings [2014] ‘When advising clients contemplating the risks of litigation, litigators should continue to adopt a cautious approach; clients must be ready to negotiate in good faith, rather than relying on …
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Costs: Party time?

Richard Marshall and Clare Arthurs look at developments in non-party costs orders and parties to proceedings ‘The courts will take pragmatic and flexible approach to ensure that justice is done in individual case. In Threlfall they ensured that the wronged party was not left out of pocket and in Pintorex they prevented a successful claimant …
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Costs: Turning the tables: costs orders against claimants’ solicitors

Judith Bloor and Christopher Malla assess the implications of Flatman v Germany; Weddall v Barchester Health Care Ltd ‘Recent changes in the costs regime, which came into force from 1 April 2013, include qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) in personal injury cases.’In Flatman v Germany; Weddall v Barchester Health Care Ltd [2013], the Court of …
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Case Report: Gavin Flatman v Gill Germany; Richard Weddall v Barchester Health Care Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 278

Third-party cost orders; disclosure ‘There will be palpable relief among solicitors that the payment of disbursements and provision of credit has roundly been dismissed as a test for establishing that a funder is “a real party” to proceedings.’ On 10 April 2013 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the conjoined appeals in Flatman …
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Damages: A slice of the cake

Nick Rowles-Davies assesses the impact of the draft Damages-Based Agreement Regulations There is some force in the argument that acting under a DBA pushes the solicitors closer to being a funder and ‘the real party’ to the proceedings. The Civil Justice Council’s (CJC) working party on damages-based agreements (DBAs) has prompted some debate in the …
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Costs: Who paid the ferryman? Damned if you do, damned if you might have done

Mark Surguy assesses the impact of Germany v Flatman ‘Section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 gives the court power to determine by whom the costs of litigation shall be paid. This can include a non-party and a non-party can include a party’s solicitor.’ The scope of the jurisdiction to make a non-party costs …
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