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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2019
2019 is about to begin with the Navy tussling with asylum seekers in the Channel, the Brexit obsessed political class engaging in another variety of navel gazing and Mr Trump ordering concrete in order to build his wall to keep the poor and desperate out of sight. I do not hold out much hope for…
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Weak discretion and part 36
In 2018 there have been a number of interesting cases on part 36 including my own venture into the procedural jungle that of Hogg v Newton. In the case of Tuson v Murphy [2018] EWCA Civ 1461 the Court of Appeal dealt with the scope of the judicial discretion to make some other costs order than the usual…
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Spring dawning
We have reached the dog days of the year, the darkest point of winter, where one leaves home in the dark and comes home in the dark, enjoying the sensation of having marinated one’s feet in good leather for twelve hours of travel and advocacy. But on the 21st, the day of the equinox the…
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Clawing back the deficit
As has been wisely observed, once a disastrous loss has been sustained at trial, the loser’s thoughts turn immediately to mitigating the extent of the loss and in the context of costs this means casting around for arguments to make an issues based costs order. The arguments will always be fact sensitive but it is…
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The turn of the screw
From time to time, I am afraid I do lose a case. One such case a couple of months ago, the decision of HH Judge Auerbach in the case of Sarah Jane Reynolds v One Stop Stores Limited County Court at Norwich 21st September 2018has been widely reported in the legal press, as it is…
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T’int right, t’int fair, t’int proper
One of the things that I do from time to time is draft damages based agreements (DBAs) for clients, who having been apprised of the risks of using this form of funding agreement decide to go ahead with it anyway. DBAs of course, can be used not only by solicitors, but by claims management companies…
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Late acceptance of part 36 offers
There are always fashions in litigation: one of them which has occupied roughly two years, have been the arguments about what costs consequences flow, from the late acceptance by a defendant of a part 36 offer made by a claimant, in a personal injury case, often complicated by the presence of the fixed costs provisions.…
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The ACL conference 23rd November 2018
Yesterday I attended at the Association of Costs Lawyers conference, in order to deliver a paper on Fixed Costs. The paper can be found here: 2018 09 11 Fixed Costs Presentation for the ACL 23rd November 2018. Its always pleasure to attend these annual conferences, as I will always learn something new, and get the chance…