Despite widespread concern about the expense of civil litigation, Australia has been slow to adopt proposed reforms to its costs regimes. Fixed, event-based costs, though the subject of long-standing advocacy, play an insignificant role in litigation. Continue reading
The Court of Appeal in Sugar Hut v A J Insurance Service has overturned the trial judge’s decision to impose costs consequences akin to the automatic CPR 36 costs consequences on a party who only narrowly beats a CPR 36 offer. Continue reading
Common interest privilege is, in my view, the great red herring of English law. The term is often used in circumstances where it is inapt or unnecessary, and as a result it causes a great deal of confusion. In this blog post I will set out, and hopefully dispel, what I see as some common myths about common interest privilege and consider whether the concept has any remaining significance in practice. Continue reading