Guidance on proportionality at last as judges curtail ATE disputes
The Court of Appeal has issued long-awaited guidance on how judges should apply the proportionality test, while also looking to curtail disputes over the reasonableness of block-rated ATE premiums.
Claimant costs fall as NHS targets greater use of mediation
The LASPO reforms are continuing to reduce the level of legal costs being paid out in clinical negligence claims against the NHS, with a 5% drop over the past year, new figures have shown.
HMRC hit with costs order for “egregious” litigation conduct
HM Revenue & Customs was “unreasonable in defending and conducting” an appeal where the case workers assigned to the litigation were insufficiently experienced to deal with it.
Costs award overturned after judge read ‘without prejudice’ letters
A judge was wrong to make a costs order after viewing ‘without prejudice’ material relating to settlement discussions that was not marked “save as to costs”, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled.
CA recognises importance of solicitors’ cash flow in med neg cases
The Court of Appeal has recognised the cash flow pressures of funding complex litigation in rejecting an application to appeal a ruling granting a law firm an interim costs payment.
Part 36 consequences “are severable”, High Court rules
The court can decide it is unjust to award some, but not all, of the consequences of beating a part 36 offer, a High Court judge has ruled. But the court could only award the 10% uplift and not a lesser amount.
Security for costs sanction for party that ignored CMC deadline
The High Court has ordered a party that missed the deadline to fix the date of a case management conference by more than four years to pay security for costs as a sanction.
Costs were not made to measure in tailoring dispute, says judge
The High Court has condemned the costs of a straightforward breach of confidence case as “completely out of proportion”. The focus had wrongly been put on had been invested, rather than lost
