The importance of correctly framing offers is highlighted in a recent personal injury matter involving faulty work equipment, dealt with by our Solicitor/Senior Costs Draftsman Christopher Knibb. The claim involved a defective lorry trailer in which the curtain locking mechanism, which should have been welded to the frame, had broken, allowing for the tension bar…
Bhandal v HM Revenue and Customs [2016] EWHC 3387 (Admin) Exploring the reasoning behind denying a party the opportunity to defer payment of costs. With a refresher on the Denton test. When an Order for costs is made against a party, there may be one reason or another that payment cannot be made on time.…
In Socrates Training Limited –v- The Law Society of England and Wales [2017] CAT 12 the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) have ruled that there were no grounds for an indemnity costs order and that the Claimant was confined to the cap imposed by their approved costs budget, despite describing the Law Society’s conduct as “deeply unimpressive.” The…
In theory the RTA protocol provides a straightforward process by which low value RTA claims can be resolved, including the payment of fixed costs. However, this latest decision shows how easily satellite litigation regarding the process, and particularly payment of costs, can arise. In Bates and Anr v Bourne and Anr (unreported), District Judge Baldwin sitting as the Regional…
Emmanuel v The Commissioners for her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2017] WWHC 1253 (Ch) Exploring when an extension should be granted and in accordance with the Overriding Objective, why. The Overriding Objective should be known back to front by practitioners. It is the context against which all decisions in civil procedure should be considered.…
Dammermann v Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors [2017] EWCA Civ 269 A case which clarifies the circumstance required to establish that a party has acted unreasonably on the Small Claims Track, thereby incurring a costs liability Subject to certain exceptions, the standard position when a claim is allocated to the small claims track is that ‘the court…
A number of issues were considered by Lord Justice Patten in the Court of Appeal in the case of Gore v Naheed [2017] EWCA 369. This was a case in which the Defendant appealed a decision against the damages awarded against them and granting an injunction in relation to a right of way over neighbouring properties.…
The RBS Rights Issue Litigation is a highly unusual and interesting case whereby the Claimant shareholders of the Royal Bank of Scotland are seeking to recover losses incurred relating to investments following the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland shares on the grounds that the prospectus for the 2008 rights issue of shares in Royal…
Asghar v Bhatti Queen’s Bench Division A surprising decision to allow updates to be made to a court fees only cost budget where a ‘significant development’ had occurred…. Currently the position outlined within the CPR is that Court fees only will be allowed if a Cost Budget is not filed or is filed out of…
Since the introduction of the portal for low value Employer’s Liability and Public Liability claims, Claimant Solicitors must take extra care when conducting and valuing their case. A recent case dealt with here at MRN illustrates this precise point well. The Claimant’s Solicitors were instructed to act in respect of an incident which occurred at…