Costs

A circuit judge has ordered a litigation friend to pay costs after finding that she was responsible for the fundamental dishonesty behind linked claims.

The 10% uplift on costs for beating a part 36 offer is ‘all or nothing’ and judges cannot award less, the Civil Procedure Rule Committee has confirmed.

The claimants in the truck cartel litigation have received the green light to move forward without delay to an assessment of the costs of a preliminary hearing given the two sides’ contrasting financial resources.

Part 36 offers which specifically exclude interest are not valid, the Court of Appeal has ruled – but one of the judges said this should be reconsidered.

A solicitor who had an oral agreement with the son-in-law of a client that he would cover the legal fees did not fall foul of the 1677 Statute of Frauds, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

A party’s right to appeal from an oral hearing that follows a provisional assessment is limited to decisions made at the hearing, the High Court has ruled.

A pre-assessment protocol for costs – which would require the receiving party to serve a costs summary – could help reduce the costs of the process, a new report has suggested.

Costs lawyers say there is an urgent need to review the guideline hourly rates, a survey has found. The poll also showed continuing signs of improvement in solicitors sticking to their budgets.

The Supreme Court is to review a controversial ruling that a law firm handling uncontested flight delay claims was not conducting litigation and so did not have an equitable lien over the compensation.

The High Court has ordered the wife and mother-in-law of a Kazakh businessman, the subject of a “very substantial fraud claim”, to pay the claimants’ costs bill of over £12m.