You would hope that, these days, situations where a solicitor has provided his client no guidance as to costs would be rare. One came before Master Leonard in a Solicitors Act 1974 assessment of a bill for work representing the client’s son, who had been arrested and charged with murder following a fight in Crete. The client’s son denied any involvement. Continue reading
Opposition is growing to the government juggernaut of scrapping live courts, even for trials, with the judiciary in particular expressing its clear and certain view that austerity and cost-cutting, not access to justice, are behind the move. Continue reading
Whilst attending a conference recently, I was surprised to hear a representative of a well-known funder state that there are significant capacity issues within the after the event (ATE) insurance market and that it was becoming increasingly difficult for claimants to obtain adverse costs insurance for higher levels of indemnity. The funder went on to share their view that a claimant’s best chance of obtaining ATE insurance is through a litigation funder given that many of the funders have binders in place with ATE insurers that conveniently circumvent the capacity issues this funder perceives a claimant might otherwise face. Continue reading