Costs, Confusion and Compromise (PDF)
Keynote Address of Mr Justice Foskett
Professional Negligence Lawyers’ Association Annual Conference, 4th December 2014
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
‘The first change relates to cases when the defendant elected trial and solicitors had been restricted to the fixed fee, even though the Crown did not proceed at all, and the defendant is acquitted on the order of a judge. In these cases, provided the case goes beyond the plea and case management hearing, a cracked trial fee will be paid.’
Full story
Law Society’s Gazette, 1st December 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘On-call, duty contracts for criminal solicitors to attend police stations and courts will be slashed from 1,600 to 527 in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.’
The Guardian, 27th November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Despite solicitors for three claimants failing to pay the relevant court fees, failing to file a pre-trial checklist, and failing to prepare a trial bundle (which caused the trial window to be lost) it was nonetheless inappropriate to strike out the claim- the case was all but ready for trial and the claim was not insubstantial.’
Zenith PI Blog, 21st November 2014
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘Chris Pamplin looks at recent moves by the Ministry of Justice to control the whiplash claims industry & MROs.’
New Law Journal, 14th November 2014
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
‘The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has admitted that the new rules for whiplash claims, introduced on 1 October this year, “could in practice lead to some misunderstanding” and may have to be amended.’
Litigation Futures, 14th November 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The UK’s financial watchdog is clamping down on payday loans, with new rules to ensure that borrowers are never forced to repay more than twice the sum of their original loan.’
The Guardian, 11th November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘I last discussed this litigation in Success Fees and ATE Premiums in the Patents County Court: Henderson v All Around the World Recordings Ltd 4 May 2013. I set out the basic facts in my case note:
“This was an action for infringement of a performer’s rights which Judge Birss QC (as he then was) decided in Henderson v All Around the World Recordings Ltd and Another [2013] EWPCC 7 (13 Feb 2013)……. She had not been entirely successful and the costs of an unsuccessful copyright claim and half the costs of an application were awarded against her but she had succeeded overall.”‘
NIPC Law, 5th November 2014
Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk
‘The major piece of criminal law legislation for 2014 is the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. It has been brought gradually into force throughout the year.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 3rd November 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling, has quietly shelved plans to nearly double the fee for filing a divorce petition.’
The Independent, 26th October 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Research suggests that a combined £175 million in assets is lost each year to bereaved families if a relative dies intestate or with an outdated will.’
Daily Telegraph, 22nd October 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘The High Court has overturned a cost judge’s refusal to grant relief from sanctions that prevented claimant lawyers from recovering their success fees, and instead accused the defendants of “unreasonable and opportunistic” conduct.’
Litigation Futures, 6th October 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘The latest stages of the government’s work on compensation claims take effect today (Wednesday 1 October 2014) with new measures around whiplash and PPI claims.’
Minsitry of Justice, 1st October 2014
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
Marley v Rawlings (No 2); [2014] UKSC 51; [2014] WLR (D) 402
‘Where a mistake made by a solicitor in the execution of a will required its validity to be determined in litigation, funded in the High Court and the Court of Appeal on a traditional basis and in the Supreme Court under contingency fee agreements, the proper order for costs in the High Court and the Court of Appeal was that the solicitor’s insurers should pay the costs of both the successful claimant and the unsuccessful defendants, thereby short-circuiting the approach that, on a reasonable, but unsuccessful, challenge to the validity of a will, the costs should be borne by the estate.’
WLR Daily, 18th September 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
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