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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Die Hard
Michaelmas Term is slowly but surely drawing to an end. As is always the case, this period from September to December 2024 is the busiest in the year. So given the need to concentrate on the day job, it has been some time since I have updated this blog. As a down payment on new…
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Retainers
On Wednesday 27th November 2024, Matthew Smith and I will be delivering a webinar, on the vexed and vexing issue of retainers and the problems that they can cause for costs litigation. We shall consider conditional fee agreements, damages based agreements and the interplay with litigation funding agreements. If you would like to attend the…
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The living legends
Next week, on 5th November, Steven Turner and I will be delivering a Zoom seminar on the fascinating and difficult area of non party costs Orders, the law and practice which applies to this jurisdiction, together with our practical perspective derived from 60 years of combined litigation experience. Join us for a few fireworks! Link…
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Under the greenwood tree
Many years ago, I remember being led in the Court of Appeal in a particularly contentious set of appeals, before a division of the court presided over by the sadly deceased Lord Justice Brooke, who was then Vice President of the Court of Appeal. The silk on the other side made a particularly tendentious point,…
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Wasted costs with Paul Hughes
In hotly contested litigation, costs are a constant, contentious issue. But sometimes they go beyond the arena of party-and-party issues, when one side seeks a costs order against the legal representatives involved in a case. When legal representatives are accused of improper conduct resulting in wasted costs, the courts can impose a Wasted Costs Order…
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Counsel’s fees and artificial intelligence
If as Philip Larkin wrote, sex began in 1963, then it can be asserted that artificial intelligence (AI) began in November 2022 with the release of ChatGPT for general use on the internet. Although dismissed by the unknowing or uncaring as just another fad, I would suggest AI stands poised to become a technology, that…
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Iron and wine
One of the pleasures of growing old, is seeing many of the same arguments that one grappled with in one’s youth, surfacing again 25 years later. At the current time compensating parties are taking a particular interest in the recoverability and quantum of fees charged by Medical Reporting Organisations (MROs). This is an old issue…
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Planning matters
The Town and Country Planning system in the UK has been subject to increasing scrutiny and criticism, both due to its lack of resources and the underlying philosophical tensions. On one hand, planning decisions are expected to be made based on objective legal and policy criteria; on the other, the decision-makers—elected councillors—are motivated by political…