WHO is responsible for the new electronic bill of costs In January 2010, Lord Justice Jackson presented his final report following a review of civil litigation costs in England and Wales. The 557-page report observed that, amongst many other things, bills were expensive, cumbersome to draw and not easy to [...]
Revising your costs budget – The new Precedent T Since 1 October 2020 there has been a new form to be used when it is necessary for a party to revise its previously approved budget, and that is the Precedent T. Prior to this point, there was no set format [...]
GUIDELINE HOURLY RATES - WHERE ARE WE NOW? Guideline Hourly rates – Where are we now? If you are familiar with the civil litigation costs process, then there is a very good chance that at some stage you will have come across the term ‘Guideline Hourly Rates’ (GHRs). GHRs refers [...]
MULTIPLE DEFENDANTS - THE PITFALLS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM Multiple Defendants There have been several cases dealing with the pitfalls and dilemmas facing receiving parties in regard to claims involving multiple defendants and it can often prove to be difficult to guarantee the receiving parties’ costs are met in [...]
THE DEFENDANT'S CONDUCT FOLLOWING THE CLAIMANT'S DISCONTINUANCE Hewson V Wells and Ors [2020] EWHC 2722 (ch) The underlying claim arose following the death of Mr Wells who was a cohabitee of the Claimant. Mr Wells died intestate and the Claimant issued proceedings for an interest in the property under the [...]
COSTS BUDGETING - KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED Do you need to file a Costs Budget? Pursuant to CPR 3.12 (1), costs management automatically applies to all Part 7 multi-track cases, therefore a Costs Budget (Precedent H) will be required in these claims. However, under CPR 3.12 there are some exceptions to [...]
GUIDELINE RATES- A LONG OVERDUE INCREASE Following the Civil Justice Council’s working group’s consultation, the much publicised update to the guideline rates will come into effect from 1 October 2021. This represents the first uplift to the guideline rates since 2010. The new rates will be as follows: Grade AGrade [...]
LOOKING FOR YOUR ASSESSMENT COSTS IN FULL Looking for your Assessment Costs in full? Better Produce a Reasonable Bill Milbrooke Construction Limited (in Liquidation) -v- Timothy Jones [2021] EWHC B20 (Costs) Summary Master Brown reduced the Claimant’s Bill of Costs by 39% and in turn made ‘some other Order’ under [...]
FAILURE TO FILE STATEMENT OF COSTS IN INTERIM APPLICATIONS Failure to file Statement of Costs in interim applications– Does the offending party lose its costs? The Court has seen two recent cases where parties have failed to file statements of costs, as they should have under Practice Direction 44. However, [...]
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