The new form electronic bill, coming into force tomorrow (6 April 2018), is “bound to save time and costs” and soon “people will be amazed that we had put up with the old paper-based bill for so long”, Jackson LJ predicted as he reflected on his reforms ahead of his retirement from the bench on 7 March 2018. Continue reading
In May 2017, Master Rowley handed down judgment in Tucker v Griffiths and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, dealing with various issues arising as preliminary points in a detailed assessment. The case centred on an alleged mis-certification of the claimant’s budget and, flowing from that, also dealt with hourly rates and good reason to depart (based on the alleged mis-certification). There is also a decision on the unrelated issue of the level of recoverable success fee. Continue reading
Dealing with costs before the Court of Appeal can take practitioners outside their comfort zone. The court sometimes has to decide complicated issues, in terms of both appellate costs and costs below. In light of the recent case of Knight v Goulandris (in which I was led by Michael Wheater, and instructed by Fox Williams) and where the appellant obtained an order for 100% of the appeal costs sought on summary assessment, this blog will review the principles and common issues. Continue reading