Emails treated as ‘without prejudice’ can be used for costs
There is no rule that communications treated as ‘without prejudice’ despite not being labelled as such cannot be referred to when considering costs, the High Court has ruled.
Costs lawyers “see opportunities” in helping clients challenge bills
A majority of costs lawyers think there is a business opportunity in helping unhappy clients challenge their solicitors’ bills, a survey has found. It also showed continuing signs of improvement in budgeting.
Judge upholds strike-out of £2.6m ‘RTA portal’ claim
A judge has upheld the striking out of a £2.6m personal injury claim which remained in the RTA portal for almost four years before the claimants admitted it should be transferred.
Budgeting “not inevitable” in catastrophic injury cases
Costs budgeting is not “inevitable” in high-value injury cases and lawyers should consider whether the best approach may be to dispense with it altogether, a leading practitioner has suggested.
Offer to settle for no damages was valid under part 36
An offer to settle a case for no damages but an admission of liability was a valid part 36 offer and it was not unjust to apply the usual consequences of beating an offer when the claimant won at trial.
Court proceedings pack change “renders portal offer void”
A circuit judge has ruled that a failure in a portal case to include the same damages figure in the stage 3 court proceedings pack as in the stage 2 settlement pack form renders the offer void.
DWF automates costs work for fast-track PI claims
Listed law firm DWF has launched a new tool for fast-track personal injury claims, which it says is capable of calculating costs in tens of thousands of cases every year.
Lawyers avoid non-party costs order over client’s fees claim
Solicitors who acted for a client claiming as damages the fees which the client owed them for work done for him in earlier proceedings should not be ordered to pay costs if it fails, the High Court has ruled.
