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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Counting the cost
At the current time, it is hard to credit that the government has done anything in the last 3 years, than break itself to pieces on a reef called Brexit. Certainly, the great issues of the day including housing policy, social care, climate change and air quality, seem to have been ignored in favour of…
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For everything else, there is Mastercard
One of the areas of litigation that I keep an eye on is, competition law. With the continued contraction of personal injury litigation, new and interesting areas of work continue to emerge which are not necessarily the exclusive preserve of large litigation firms in London. One such area is claims for collective redress. Other such…
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Disbursements and ATE premiums
An important element of the decision in Herbert -v- H H Law Ltd (Final) concerned the Court’s decision that an ATE insurance premium was not a solicitor’s disbursement, and so did not fall within the scope of a section 70 assessment at all. The basic assumption underlying the challenge to the ATE which had succeeded…
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Presumptions and proof
In Herbert -v- H H Law Ltd (Final) the role of the presumptions came to the fore. It is worth remembering why there is a procedure for the assessment of costs under section 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974 at all. It’s justification, is that although some items of costs might be specifically agreed by the…
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Charging 100% success fees and risk assessments
There are three significant points arising from the decision of the Court of Appeal in Herbert -v- H H Law Ltd (Final) handed down yesterday, which are of general importance to the profession, and not just that part of the profession which undertakes personal injury litigation. The first point is whether when running a case…
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Herbert v HH Law Limited
Today the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the case of Herbert v HH Law Limited. A copy of the judgment can be downloaded here: Herbert -v- H H Law Ltd (Final). The case is one of the more significant decisions in the field of solicitor-own client assessments under section 70 of the Solicitors…
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Judgment day: Herbert v HH Law Limited 3rd April 2019 at 10 am
Tomorrow, at 10 am the Court of Appeal (Sir Terence Etherton MR and Lindblom and Asplin LJJ) will hand down judgment in the case of Herbert v HH Law Limited. Copies of the handed down judgment will be available shortly thereafter.
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Making crime pay
One of the delights of having a common law practice at the Bar, is the wide variety of work that you get to undertake in your early years. I have fond memories of my time in the criminal courts: I used to prosecute regulatory offences in the Magistrates Court from time to time, undertake the…