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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Controlling costs in group litigation
Over the years I have had involvement in a number of group actions, all of which have raised interesting issues both substantively and in relation to the battle royale, over costs which always ensues after settlement, or trial, or often trial and at least one tier of appeal. Historically by and large it has been…
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Ho howe hmmm
One of my abiding interests in the field of personal injury costs is the vexed and vexing topic of QOCS, QUOCS, QUALCS or QWOCS. Various accronyms have been applied over the years to the scheme of Qualified One Way Costs Shifting introduced by LASPO 2012, and there may well be one or two that I…
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Non party costs in the Supreme Court II
The last post considered the search for principle in the Supreme Court decision of Travelers Insurance Company Ltd v XYZ [2019] UKSC 48 by Lord Briggs concerning non party costs orders against liability insurers. Having explained the context and the principles to be applied he then turned to consider the factual matrix of the case…
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Non party costs in the Supreme Court I
A very important case was decided by the Supreme Court at the tail end of last year, that of Travelers Insurance Company Ltd v XYZ [2019] UKSC 48: Its effects are still being digested. Its ramifications will apply to many consumer claims, where there is a lack of uniformity in the insurance cover. In my…
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Non party costs orders continued
By the time of Deutsche Bank v Sebastian Holdings and Alexander Vik [2016] EWCA Civ 23 in 2016 a certain world weariness to the question of the search for principle can be detected by the Court of Appeal. There is a lot in this case which repays careful reading, including the extent to which a…
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Principle and non party costs orders
Although the caselaw has developed over time with notable cases along the way being Aiden Shipping CoLtdv Interbulk Ltd [1986] 2 WLR 1051 and Symphony Group Plc v Hogdson [1994] QB179 but the root of modern authority lies elsewhere: a Privy Council case which has been repeatedly cited with approval by the Court of Appeal and now the…
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Non party costs orders considered
The non party costs jurisdiction is, from a professional and academic viewpoint one of the more interesting areas of costs work. It involves wide ranging consideration of a disparate body of case law decided in a variety of contexts and then its application to the facts of a particular case. Such applications are often very…
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Electronic dreams
I have been watching with interest the chatter on the internet, particularly LinkedIn, as to how remote hearings might take place, particularly by video a process which could have profound implications for the way that justice is conducted in this country, which will endure beyond the current public health emergency. By the way if you…