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SCCO Sets Aside Notice of Commencement Served Prematurely
In ABA v University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust[2022] EWHC B4 (Costs), it was ruled a Notice of Commencement was served prematurely.
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Defendant Not Party to Appeal Can Still be Ordered to Pay Costs of Appeal
Read the full judgment of Turner & Ors v Thomas & Anor (Costs)
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Court Approves ‘Clear and Compelling’ Test for Exceeding Guideline Rates
Read the full judgment of Lappet Manufacturing Company Ltd & Anor v Rassam & Ors
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Costs lawyer’s entitlement to expect professional courtesy
Read the full judgement
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SCCO Refuses to Order Provisional Assessment Level Fees Where Bill Reduced Below £75,000
Read the full judgment of UK Sovereign Investments Ltd v Hussain
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More on Proportionality from Senior Costs Judge, Master Gordon-Saker
Powell and Ors v The Chief Constable Of West Midlands Police
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Court Finds Dentons Test Applies to Applications to Set Aside Default Judgments
Read the full judgment of FXF -v- English Karate Federation Limited & Anor
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New Electronic Bill of Costs
The new electronic bill of costs (Precedent S), proposed by LJ Jackson in his Final Report back in 2009 comes into effect from 6 April 2018.
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High Court Rules Party can receive multiple orders for interim payments on account of costs
Read the full judgement of Trotman v Master Brickwork London Essex Ltd
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Court Rejects Council’s Appeal Over Hourly Rates
Read the full judgement of Harlow District Council v Powerrapid Ltd
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Court of Appeal find that ‘Proportionality’ is not a blunt instrument to slash costs
Download judgment
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Variation of Budget Allowed to Include Surveillance Evidence Obtained pre-CMO
Read the full judgement of Purser v Hibbs & Anr
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Judge Allows a Third Party’s Costs in Full
Read the full judgement of Next Generation Holdings Ltd & Anor v Finch Ors
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How a minor variation can fail to meet Part 36 Criteria
View ruling on Part 36 Criteria
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Guildeline Hourly Rates To Be Uprated from 1 January 2024
Sir Geoffrey Vos has accepted the recent recommendations from the Civil Justice Council to increase the current Guideline Hourly Rates from 1 January 2024 in line with producer price index. The rates have been confirmed as follows:
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No Limit on Costs Recovery Where Client Terminates CFA
Read the full judgment in Sellers v Simpkins
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Defendant Ordered To Pay Costs Where Claimant Discontinued
Read the full judgment in Benjamin v Benjamin & Anor
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High Court Ignores Calderbank Offers In Deciding Costs Where Both Sides Agree
Read the full judgment in Aymes International Ltd v Nutrition4u BV & Ors
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Signature to Bill of Costs Must be Identifiable, rules High Court
Mrs Justice Steyn (sitting with Master Brown) on the appeal held that the signatory to a Bill of Costs must be clearly identifiable.
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Master of the Rolls Approves CJC’s Revised Guideline Rates
The Master of the Rolls has approved the Civil Justice Council's working group's revised Guideline Hourly Rates proposed early this year.
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Service of N252 by email was valid – High Court overturn SCCO decision to set aside DCC
In Serbian Orthodox Church – Serbian Patriarchy v Kesar & Co[2021] EWHC 1205 (QB), it was held a notice of commencement sent to the wrong email address that was automatically and instantly forwarded to the correct email address constituted valid service.
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Solicitor’s £250,000 fixed fee agreement set aside as ‘unreasonable’
In Tripipatkul v WH Lawrence Ltd (t/a WH Lawrence Solicitors)[2021] EWHC B13 (Costs), Costs Judge Brown set aside a fixed fee agreement for £250,000 made between the Claimant and the Defendant solicitors on grounds of unreasonability.
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High Court may be lenient where statement of costs is filed late
Where the Claimant failed file their statement of costs 24 hours before a hearing in Tribe v Elborne Mitchell LLP (Costs) [2021] EWHC 1252 (Ch), Master McCloud took the lenient view.
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High Court issue helpful guidance on budget revisions
Read the full judgement of Persimmon Homes Limited -v- Osborne Clark LLP
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SCCO – Guideline Rates “roughest of rough guides” – other factors must be considered when assessing rates
Read the full judgement of Shulman -v- Kolomoisky (Case No. SC-2019-BTP-000248).
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Gordon Saker on continuation of successful interim measures post COVID
Read the full Practice Note here.
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Part 36 Offers – High Court provides further guidance on compliance
Read the full judgment of Essex County Council v UBB Waste (Essex) Ltd here.
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High Court will not accept supplementary Points of Dispute
Read the full judgement of Edinburgh v Fieldfisher LLP [2020] EWHC 862 (QB) here.
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High Court – Why you could be excused from late filing of a budget
Read the full judgement of Manchester Shipping Limited -v- Balfour Shipping Limited & Anor [2020] by downloading the pdf here.
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High Court – More on ‘Unhelpful’ Guideline Hourly Rates
Read the full judgement of Crumpler & Anor -v- Candey Limited [2019]
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County Court details what constitutes a “good reason to depart” from budgeted costs
Read the full judgement of Barts Health NHS Trust v Hilrie Rose Salmon [2019]
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Not applying for fee remission when entitled to such leave court fees unrecoverable – County Court
Read the full judgement of Stoney v Allianz Insurance plc [2019], Case No. E14LV817
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2010 guideline rates no longer helpful in assessing reasonableness, claims High Court
Read the full judgement of Ohpen Operations UK Ltd v Invesco Fund Managers Ltd [2019]
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High Court – “Not appropriate” to claim disproportionality upon comparison of bills alone
Read the full judgement of Monex Europe Ltd v Pothecary and Anor [2019] EWHC 2204 (QB)
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Court of Appeal Uphold Costs Judge’s Refusal to Assess Generic Points of Dispute
Read the full judgement
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Part 36 consequences “are severable”, High Court rules
Court finds that the rule 36.17(4)(a)-(d) consequences are severable.
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Court of appeal rules on status of solicitor’s bill
Read the full details of the judgement of Slade (t/a Richard Slade and Company) v Boodia & Anor