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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Pro bono publico
One of the new roles that I have taken on this year, is the Pro Bono Champion of chambers. Its actually an official title. It is awarded by Advocate, the new name for the Bar Pro Bono Unit, and a list of Champions can be found here: https://weareadvocate.org.uk/probonochampions.html. In practical terms, it means I take on…
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Independence Day
So it is finally here. Independence Day has arrived and tomorrow it will be possible to look out of your window upon a Green and Pleasant Land, freed from the yoke of European vassalage and about to embrace its new destiny as a Great Power again. It is remarkable how quickly since the election last…
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Conditional fee agreements and contentious business agreements
Are all conditional fee agreements contentious business agreements? And if so, how might that effect a client’s right to an assessment of the costs charged by her solicitor under the Solicitors Act 1974? These are interesting questions but to start at the beginning, the Solicitors Act 1974 defines a contentious business agreement in these terms…
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A lawyer yet not a rascal
2020 approaches. A year ago I wrote about my hopes for 2019 and you can read my musings here: http://costsbarrister.co.uk/pro-bono/2019/. Since then politics have changed. This month we have seen Mr Johnson obtain a landslide majority in the House of Commons, there is no doubt now that Brexit will happen and this country will chart…
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Fixed costs and translation fees
Fixed costs cases tend to resemble London omnibuses, in that after a period of time waiting that seems measured in months, three arrive together. The case of Aldred v Master Tyreese Sulay Alieu Cham [2019] EWCA Civ 1780. forms part of the trinity. The case is concerned with the interpretation of section IIIA of part…
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Cash flow and catastrophic personal injury litigation
Taking up again the role of a modern day Jeremiah, or conversely, John the Baptist, depending on your point of view, about the vexed topic of the ease of funding of personal injury claims post 2020 (you can read my earlier article on the subject here: http://costsbarrister.co.uk/access-to-justice/the-oncoming-storm/ ) I have read with interest the recent…
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Retainers and behavioural science
One of the interesting developments of the last decade or so has been the rise of behavioural science, its acceptance by the political establishment and its deployment into mainstream policy making by politicians. In 2008, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness gained a following among politicians in…
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Praisegod Barebone
Some years ago, I took my children on a tour of the Houses of Parliament. I dimly remembered visiting them in my own youth, and as politics has been quite interesting for the last few years, felt that it was time they learned about the Mother of Parliaments. You can book a longer or a…