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
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Housing disrepair and pre-allocation costs
I undertake a wide range of work: increasingly focused in London these days, but still I make my journeys into the further regions of England and Wales. A recent trip to Middlesbrough, saw a successful appeal to the Circuit Judge, HHJ Robinson, on the vexed question of pre-allocation costs and the application of the case…
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Suing your client
Sometimes solicitors and their clients fall out with each other, and sometimes a client refuses to pay the solicitor their charges, expenses and disbursements. This is a sad day, as court proceedings will usually follow. But it can become a tragic day for the solicitor, if to their horror, the court proceedings are then struck…
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Fixed costs revisited
Rumours of this blog’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, I fear. Numerous people have contacted me to regret its passing. In fact, what I meant to say, is that I am far more active on Linkedin, these days. So this blog is attended to, as and when time permits. If you detect a flurry of…
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Retainers
A well crafted retainer can be a lifeboat for a solicitor facing a solicitor-own client costs dispute and is a vital foundation for any claim for inter partes costs, so long as the indemnity principle endures. Yet this keystone, is often sadly neglected. A retainer will often be split into a client care letter, a…
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Solicitor and client disputes
One of the more vulgar fates that may await a solicitor, is the ignominy of not only having their bill of costs disputed by a client, but the client feeling sufficiently enraged to make an application for a solicitor and client assessment of costs, under section 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974. All solicitors wish…
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Unenforceable retainers
One of the most deadly weapons in the costs armoury, is the unenforceability argument, directed by a paying party against a solicitors costs, incurred under a Conditional Fee Agreement or Damages Based Agreement. Failure to get the drafting of one of these agreements correct, and so that it complies with the statutory requirements will render…
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Artificial Intelligence and the Law
Civilisation is a recent affair. The last Ice Age ended a mere 12,000 years ago, and what we call “civilisation” was built on a series of embedded technologies: discoveries so general in their application, and so transformative in their spread, that they changed the direction of history. Fire. Agriculture. Bronze and then iron. Later, the…
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Demystifying AI
My recent book on AI, “Andrew and the Marvellous Analytical Engine” has now been reviewed by the Law Society Gazette, and I am pleased to note received 5 stars! Grateful thanks to Rachel Rothwell for writing the review. The review can be found here: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/reviews/demystifying-ai/5124962.article It is available to purchase from Amazon, either as an…