Costs: Breach the indemnity principle at your peril!

John Plunkett advises that failure to have an effective retainer in place could be fatal It became apparent to the defendant’s solicitors that the claimant’s solicitors had allocated and claimed work carried out by a Grade D fee-earner, at an hourly rate of a Grade B fee-earner. I refer to the currently unreported costs case …
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Sexual Abuse: Vicarious liability on the move

Anna Macey examines The Catholic Child Welfare Society v Various Claimants (FC) and The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools [2012] The Supreme Court ruling will make it easier for alleged victims of Jimmy Savile and others in the entertainment industry to succeed in claims against, for example, the BBC and Broadmoor Hospital. …
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CPR 45: Fixed success fees – again

Paul Jones looks at the latest decision of Loizou v Gordon If the substantive claim, that is liability and damages, are agreed between the parties before the final hearing actually commences, this will attract the lower success fee. Fixed costs: the concept seems so simple. At the conclusion of a case, the costs payable are …
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Case Report: Patterson v Ministry of Defence[2012] EWHC 2767 (QB)

Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Rules; meaning of disease The differing levels of percentage increase/success fees are intended to reward those who take on cases that are more difficult or complex and thus have greater financial risk. In employer’s liability claims, the classification of an injury is particularly important when it comes to the assessment …
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Interim payments: Advance but with ‘disciplined and structured’ caution

Dr Jock Mackenzie and Richard Lodge provide their annual update on interim payments and the Eeles principles ‘It appears the issue causing the most contention between the parties and difficulty for the court is the need for an interim payment to fund the purchase and adaptation of a property.’ In the third of our annual …
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Clinical Negligence: Case review

Janet Sayers discusses the most significant cases of the last year Coroners may well be asked to make a finding of ‘real and immediate’ risk in verdicts of suicide of mental health patients, in anticipation of a future claim. This last year or so has seen a number of significant case law developments in the …
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