A case in which costs and ATE premium in a clinical negligence matter were considerably reduced as a result of proportionality We have considered proportionality a number of times and unfortunately the inconsistent application of the new proportionality test continued in the case of Andrew Rezek-Clarke v Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In this…
A case in which agreed elements of a budget were not approved at the Cost Management Conference The purpose of cost budgeting is ultimately to ensure the proportionate cost of litigation, through the active involvement of the court. After cost budgets are exchanged it is often the case that parties will make efforts to attempt…
The landmark decision in Merrix v Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust [2017] 346 (QB) (article here) will not be appealed for commercial reasons With the impact of Merrix being so significant, a further appeal was widely expected. In a somewhat surprising move however the NHS has elected not to do so. While the initial assumption may be that there…
The ‘new’ fixed costs regime for EL/PL cases was introduced nearly three years ago and people are still understandably unsure as to the full extent of the highly convoluted CPR 45. CPR 45 is split into two relevant Sections for EL/PL costs; Section III THE PRE-ACTION PROTOCOLS FOR LOW VALUE PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS IN ROAD…
A Key Decision Regarding the Assignment of Conditional Fee Agreements and the Recoverability of Post LASPO ‘Top Up’ Insurance Summary Heard before a full panel of five judges sitting in the Supreme Court, this matter concerned two important points of principle. Firstly the recovery of a success fee following the assignment and variation of a…
One of the Claimant friendly provisions of the Jackson reforms of 2013, QOCS, is retrospective save where CPR 44.17 applies. This reads: “This section does not apply to proceedings where the claimant has entered into a pre-commencement funding arrangement (as defined in rule 48.2).” CPR 48.2 goes on to state that pursuant to CPR 43.2,…
Michael Gosling v (1) Halio (2) Screwfix Direct [Claim No UD17868] Cambridge County Court, 29 April 2014 HHJ Moloney QC Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (QOCS), one of the key changes brought about by the Jackson reforms to bring costs protection to Claimants has generally meant that in any personal injury cases where the Claimant is…
The application of QOCS is in theory straightforward. CPR 44.13 sets out the types of cases which are included, namely personal injury, claims brought under the Fatal Accidents Act 1977 or claims brought under Section 1(1) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934. The same section also specifically states that applications for pre-action disclosure…
For many years this has been a bone of contention, with a large portion of Defendants and in particular the NHS, either failing to or refusing to provide the Claimant with a payment on account of costs. For many of our clients it is a priority to procure a payment on account so that disbursements…
Due to continued cuts in Civil Justice and the strict mandatory cost budgets in civil litigation, there is an increased risk of delay, poor decisions, and non-recovery of costs even if a case is won. Arbitration is therefore an increasingly attractive option. A procedure in which parties are able to refer a dispute to a specialist…