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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The back of the queue
This post first appeared as an article in the February 2017 issue of Litigation Funding magazine. As 2017 opens, despite predictions that the Brexit process would absorb the attentions of lawmakers and divert scarce resources away from the dry and dusty terrain of costs reform, to greener European pastures, there are a significant number of…
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Rogue One
The whiplash “industry” of claims management companies, solicitors, medical reporting agencies et al provokes strong views from those who are part of it and those who deal with it. Those who represent injured claimants with damaged vehicles regard themselves as obtaining access to justice on behalf of victims, from plutocratic insurance companies who have taken…
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Spring is in the air
The early part of 2017 has seen the pace of costs reform picking up in relation to the introduction of fixed costs in clinical negligence claims and what might be considered to be more fundamental reforms in relation to small personal injury claims generally. Two major consultations have been embarked upon and the consultation period for the misleadingly entitled…
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Costs 2017 on 3rd March 2017 in Nottingham
On 3rd March 2017, I shall be delivering a paper on current issues in litigation funding and costs at the Ropewalk Chambers Personal Injury Conference in Nottingham. Although primarily of interest to those who work in the fields of personal injury and clinical negligence I shall be covering some issues of general interest including fixed…
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A thought on fixed costs reforms
Some time ago the Voice of Common Sense on the District Bench reminisced about those halcyon days pre 1999, now long gone, when there was little law on costs, no CFAs and a dispute about costs was usually settled by agreement in advance of any taxation hearing. I pointed out that was not quite the case:…
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Legal professional privilege and detailed assessment
An issue that arises in virtually every detailed assessment, is the extent to which a paying party can pore over the file, attendance notes, advices, and other documents of the receiving party’s lawyers which may need to be produced to the court to justify the fees claimed on assessment. Prima facie most (though by no means all) of…
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Discontinuance and detailed assessment proceedings
From time to time, for a variety of reasons, it may become necessary to discontinue detailed assessment proceedings. This may be because they have misfired, or there are problems with a retainer, or a potential for embarrassment, or some other reason. When they are discontinued, there is no obligation to give an explanation as to…
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QUOCS, ATE insurance and non party costs Orders
QUOCS was introduced as part of the LASPO 2012 reforms on 1st April 2013 to provide that subject to a limited number of exceptions, a costs Order made against a losing claimant bringing a personal injury claim could not be enforced against the claimant. The principal exceptions provided for QUOCS protection not to apply in…