Half life
It is now more than five years since the inelegantly named Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008 were repealed, it having been belatedly realised by government,
Continue readingCategory: Retainer
Twilight’s last gleaming
One of the more interesting points of law that I have argued (alongside and against the rest of the costs Bar) in recent years, was the “assignment point” as it came to be known. The
Continue readingT’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
Continue readingHigh crimes and misdemeanours
One of the books I read over the summer was by the Secret Barrister: in essence a polemic on the criminal justice system: I rather enjoyed it and you can find her blog here: https://thesecretbarrister.com.
Continue readingMaking retainers work
A colleague at the Bar recently asked me what I actually did on a day to day basis, having some vague idea presumably, that the role of costs counsel was to travel the country arguing
Continue readingThe road not taken
For many years the questions of alternative funding and its availability has been central to disputes about the recovery of costs claimed under a conditional fee agreement. Under regulation 4 of the long since repealed Conditional
Continue readingI fought the law
It has been cynically observed in the author’s presence, that insurance companies only care about fraud, and costs, and only about care about the latter because they regard costs as a species of fraud perpetrated by the
Continue readingThe end of the road
The judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of Budana v The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 1980 was handed down on Tuesday of this week and may represent the last pronouncement by
Continue readingAnd the last enemy to be destroyed shall be Death
Capacity to make a contract arises as in issue in costs disputes, when a paying party wishes to dispute the validity of a retainer, on the basis that it is void or unenforceable because the client lacked
Continue readingThe 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
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