I write about legal costs, litigation funding and related questions arising in civil litigation. The emphasis is practical: what the authorities mean, how the rules operate and where the real risks lie.
The latest articles appear below. If you are looking for a particular area, the four broad gateways provide a quicker route into the archive.
Costs
Commercial costs, Part 36, QOCS, detailed assessment and related costs issues.
Litigation Funding
Funding agreements, ATE insurance, security for costs and the economics of litigation.
Solicitor-Client & Retainers
Solicitors Act assessments, retainers, CFAs, DBAs, success fees and deductions from damages.
Group & Specialist Litigation
Collective proceedings, group litigation and selected wider developments affecting civil justice.
Recent analysis
-
The page unwritten
Criminal costs cases are always interesting. In the case of The Lord Chancellor v Lam & Meerbux Solicitors [2023] EWHC 1186 (KB) a point arose, that at first blush, seems an exercise in the “bleeding obvious”: namely whether a solicitor should be paid for “reading” blank pages disclosed as part of the evidence in a…
-
Chicken supreme
Enforceability challenges have an enduring appeal in costs litigation. They are also protean and have taken many forms across the years. In recent times they have found a home in the austere environs of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in the context of collective proceedings brought for alleged infringements of competition law. At the current…
-
The unforgiving hour
If you can fill the unforgiving minute. With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son! -Rudyard Kipling It seems only yesterday, that slowly and portentously the guideline hourly rates were finally updated and a new set of guidance for the…
-
On a pale horse
As long ago as 2009, The Guardian reported that banks and solicitors were charging £1.25 billion per annum for the administration of estates. In 2023, the charges of solicitors and trust corporations which are ultimately paid out of the estate, reducing its ultimate value to beneficiaries are in the spotlight as never before. On 18th…
-
Sea Lords of Malta
Easter has now been and gone. I have returned from a very welcome break on the ancient island of Malta. If you have not been, I highly recommend it. The city of Valletta, built as a fortress, five centuries ago and now a World Heritage site, is simply stunning, made out of a warm golden…
-
Of herbs and stewed rabbit
Spring has reached the riverlands. Each day the sky seems to become bluer, and the foliage greener. Last week Craig Ralph and I undertook our annual Zoom seminar on Personal Injury Costs. You can watch the recording of it below:
-
Personal Injury Costs 2023
On 30th March 2023 Craig Ralph and I are undertaking our latest Zoom seminar. As the blurb has it: Andrew Hogan and Craig Ralph undertake their annual review of current issues in personal injury costs including QOCS, fixed costs, and the hourly rates review, in this timely and engaging seminar, suitable for all levels of experience and seniority.…
-
Changing times
Sometimes, even now, a decade after the implementation of the Jackson reforms, to most of civil litigation, I go to court to argue for recoverable success fees due under conditional fee agreements, to be awarded on a detailed assessment. Sometimes these relate to success fees in mesothelioma claims, but sometimes these relate to success fees…