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Costs
Court of Appeal finds way to apply fixed costs to EL case wrongly run outside portal
A claimant who wrongly began and settled their claim for noise-induced hearing loss outside of the EL/PL protocol should be limited to fixed costs under the provisions that penalise poor conduct in costs, the Court of Appeal has ruled, after finding that neither the protocol nor rule 45.24 applied the fixed-costs regime in the circumstances.
Solicitors should go after other third-party capture insurers after Haven ruling, says Law Society
The Law Society has encouraged solicitors to consider taking action against insurers who settled personal injury cases directly with their clients without paying their fees. It comes following yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, which upheld the Court of Appeal ruling that Haven Insurance should pay Gavin Edmondson Solicitors what it was due.
Supreme Court upholds decision that third-party capture insurer still has to pay solicitors’ costs
An insurance company that settled personal injury claims directly with the clients of a law firm has to pay the solicitors the costs they would have earned, the Supreme Court ruled today. Though it upheld the outcome of the Court of Appeal hearing, the court disagreed with the route taken to get there.
High Court: claimant who gave “misleading impression” not fundamentally dishonest
A personal injury claimant who gave a “misleading impression” of his injuries was not fundamentally dishonest, the High Court has ruled. Mrs Justice Yip said that in finding that the man “had not established his claim for future care”, the trial judge was “not bound to find” he was dishonest.
SRA bans unqualified litigator from profession over costs claims
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has banned an unqualified litigator from working in the profession after trying to recover costs to which his firm was not entitled. The decision comes shortly after the owner of the Manchester law firm was himself suspended for three years by a disciplinary tribunal.
NHS implements “novel protocol” to speed mesh implant claims
The NHS has adopted what has been described as “a novel protocol” to deal with medical negligence cases involving traumatic complications following mesh implant surgery, in anticipation of further legal claims. The protocol concerns claims relating to pioneering operations carried out privately.
Prepare for problems with new electronic bill, say costs lawyers – but don’t panic
The Association of Costs Lawyers has sought to calm fears about the electronic bill of costs – which became compulsory in the county court and Senior Courts Costs Office from last Friday – even though it said significant teething problems “are likely”.
Solicitor outlines serious MedCo shortcomings after own whiplash injury
A personal injury solicitor who herself suffered a whiplash injury has urged fellow practitioners to step up challenges to inaccurate medical reports and report them to MedCo on every occasion, after finding her own report riddled with errors. She said the faults in the process made it inevitable that claimants would face allegations of dishonesty.
Latest bid for PI client’s file fails despite invoking court’s inherent jurisdiction over solicitors
Yet another bid to obtain the part of a personal injury (PI) file over which the solicitor has proprietary rights has failed in the Senior Courts Costs Office. Master Leonard built on his ruling last year in Green v SGI Legal, which was also brought by JG Solicitors, the firm that has lit a fire under PI lawyers by challenging deductions from damages.
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.
Blog
The increasing appetite for third-party funding in Europe
Although investors in common law jurisdictions have for sometime recognised litigation as an asset worth investing in, litigation funding remains less prominent in the civil law jurisdictions of mainland Europe. However, the European appetite is beginning to shift in favour of litigation funding, and many large dedicated funds active in common law jurisdictions such as the US, UK and Australia are starting to provide third-party capital to claimants with strong cases.
April 10th, 2018
Associate News
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