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ATE/CFA
Irwin Mitchell highlights value of CFAs after Supreme Court win
Irwin Mitchell has lauded the value of conditional fee agreements after winning in the Supreme Court last week for an NHS worker whose bosses attempted to make her redundant whilst she was on holiday. The landmark ruling could trigger changes to all employment contracts in the UK.
Boxing promoter Warren loses twin challenges to CFAs
Boxing promoter Frank Warren has failed in his effort to avoid paying his solicitors under conditional fee agreements (CFAs) where he did not receive any damages or costs despite winning his case. The case also saw a Senior Courts Costs Office judge apply the Court of Appeal’s recent ruling in Budana, allowing the assignment of CFAs.
High Court throws 100% success fee model for low-value PI claims into doubt
The High Court has thrown the industry-standard model for handling low-value personal injury claims into doubt after ruling that solicitors still need to undertake individual risk assessments before setting the success fee – rather than just applying 100% across the board.
Big win for NHS Resolution in test cases on pre-LASPO funding switches
The Court of Appeal has found for NHS Resolution in three test cases over the reasonableness of solicitors switching clients from legal aid to conditional fee agreements ahead of the introduction of LASPO. NHSR said the ruling saved it £270,000 in these three cases – all run by Irwin Mitchell – and potentially millions more in other cases.
Burford launches insurance company to cover costs in high-value claims
Burford Capital has announced that it is to launch its own insurance company to provide adverse costs cover in high-value commercial litigation and arbitration claims where it is also providing third-party funding. It is designed to meet a need for “significant levels of adverse costs cover for major cases in costs-shifting jurisdictions around the world”.
“Regretful” Court of Appeal rejects media firm’s bid to recover huge costs bill
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that a leading media law firm could not recover hundreds of thousands of pounds in costs because its conditional fee agreement did not cover much of the work it undertook. Lord Justice McCombe said he rejected the appeal “not without regret”.
Deed of indemnity plus ATE enough for security for costs, but not to release solicitors from undertakings
A deed of indemnity from an after-the-event insurer was a sufficient replacement for security for costs, the High Court has ruled, but it did not release their solicitors from undertakings given previously in lieu of an order for security.
Law Society joins battle over whether third-party capture insurer still has to pay solicitors’ costs
The Law Society has been granted permission to intervene in the Supreme Court’s hearing of a case that made a major strike against the practice of third-party capture in personal injury. The Court of Appeal ordered insurance company Haven to pay the claimants’ solicitors the costs they would have earned had they not settled directly.
“Not unreasonable” for solicitors to switch from DBA to CFA shortly before trial
Claimants did not act unreasonably in switching funding from a damages-based agreement to a conditional fee agreement shortly before trial, even though the defendants are now facing a much larger bill, a costs judge has ruled.
High Court criticises regional costs judge for second-guessing ATE insurer
A regional costs judge was “quite wrong” to assume that “his underwriting skill was better than that of the underwriter” and slashing an after-the-event insurance premium by 85%, the High Court has ruled. It also found that the claimant had little choice but to accept the quoted premium “and the necessity of so doing makes the premium proportionate”.
Blog
Three’s a crowd – who pays?
In September 2014 a UKIP MEP, Jane Collins, gave a speech at UKIP’s annual conference slandering three Labour MPs. The following month, a letter of claim on their behalf was sent to Ms Collins. It contained an offer of settlement under which Ms Collins would pay each £10,000 in damages, which they would then pay to charity. UKIP’s National Executive Committee discussed the letter of claim that month and referred Ms Collins to solicitors, RMPI, with whom UKIP had close ties. No settlement having been agreed, in November 2014 the three MPs issued claims against Ms Collins. Temple Legal Protection insured the MPs’ claims.
May 16th, 2018
Associate News
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