Costs

A leading national law firm that served its budget late has failed in an application for relief from sanctions only made on the day of the case and costs management conference.

The government is to abolish the recoverability of success fees in defamation cases – but retain it for after-the-event insurance premiums, it announced yesterday.

A solicitor’s bill can be a statute bill without including both profit costs and disbursements, the Court of Appeal has ruled, overturning decisions by Mrs Justice Slade and Master James.

Proportionality should be addressed at the beginning of an assessment, and not the end, because it should inform the reasonableness of the costs, a costs judge has suggested.

A High Court judge has made no order for costs after a defendant withdrew its part 36 offer after trial but before judgment. He said the offer remained a “relevant factor” to be taken into account.

A claimant that recovered just 2% of the sum it originally claimed at trial – a sum that was just a sixth of the costs it incurred in doing so – was not the successful party, the High Court has ruled.

The courts have no power to order the payment of costs on account after a part 36 offer is accepted, the High Court has ruled. Mr Justice Birss said part 36 made no provision for one.

A cyclist defendant who counterclaimed against another cyclist after a head-on collision was not protected by qualified one-way costs shifting in the main action, a judge has ruled.

A Queen’s Bench master was wrong in his approach to costs budgeting because he approved only the constituent parts of the estimated costs and not a final figure, the High Court has ruled.

A High Court judge has expressed his dismay at the “staggering” £1.2m costs bill racked up by parties in an arbitration dispute who appeared ready to incur costs “without limit”.