Paul Jones examines a recent case that illustrates how courts may approach new funding arrangements In the post-Jackson epoch, the litigation funding options will take some time to settle down. Gone will be the ubiquitous Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) where all the costs (including success fee and ATE premium) were payable by the losing party …
Continue reading "Costs: Credit where credit is due"
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Paul Jones reviews the transitional arrangements relating to detailed assessment of costs ‘Part 36 offers will now be a relevant factor in relation to the costs of detailed assessment as will any other “admissible offer to settle”, which would, presumably, exclude without prejudice offers but allow open offers and Calderbank offers.’ The 1 April reforms …
Continue reading "Costs: Confusion reigns"
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Jeremy Glover reports on Henry v Mirror Group Newspapers If one party is unaware that the other party’s budget has been significantly exceeded, they are no longer on an equal footing, and the purpose of the cost management scheme is lost. With the reforms to the way costs in civil litigation are managed being introduced …
Continue reading "Costs: Measure for measure"
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Paul Jones examines the cost implications of multiple defendants The general rule was… a starting point that could be departed from in an appropriate case and, in deciding what was an appropriate case, the court had a duty to exercise its discretion so as to do justice between the parties. Claims involving multiple parties always …
Continue reading "Costs: It wasn’t me, it was him"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | March 2013 #127Stanley Shirt, the claimant (C), owned the freehold of the family farm (Syda) and an agricultural tenancy (Rufford), which he lost in 2007 as a result of failure to pay the rent. He had three sons and a daughter. In 1974 C entered into a farming partnership with his wife, Marie (M), who died in 2004, and his son, Alan (A). Both farms were recorded as partnership assets. In 2006 C fell out with A and thereafter they carried on two separate businesses. A lived in a house on Rufford until the tenancy came to an end, when he moved into a caravan on Syda. C brought a claim for possession agai...
Paul Jones investigates the latest challenge to the provisions There was no power within the CPR 36 for the court to enter judgment following an agreement between the parties as suggested by the claimant. If one considers the entirety of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), it would be difficult to counter the argument that CPR …
Continue reading "Costs: The continuing saga of Part 36"
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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 …
Continue reading "Costs: Breach the indemnity principle at your peril!"
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Robert Platt and Leah Alpren-Waterman discuss damages-based agreements Including counsel’s fees in the cap on the proportion of damages that can be sought as a contingency fee would be consistent with the government’s approach in limiting the total proportion of damages that can be recovered as a fee by the lawyer.In April 2013, the Legal …
Continue reading "Costs: A contingency fee by any other name"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | November 2012 #124The deceased, Owen Davies (D), was born in England but died in France. He was living in Belgium at the time but owned a house in England and had made a will in England some 12 years before his death under which the fifth defendant, his uncle Clive Davies (Clive), was interested in residue. He was not on good terms with his mother and siblings represented by the first to third defendants (the family defendants (FD)) when he made his will and they contested probate proceedings claiming that D had died domiciled in Belgium and that the will was null and void under Belgium law, pleaded that ...
