Articles
Costs Law has many complexities, and the issues involved are often still cloudy - even by the Judgements themselves. Our aim, as your costs specialist, is to minimise your exposure to these issues and protect your position at assessment - whilst also achieving maximum costs recovery.
In each of the topics listed below, we set out a brief summary of relevant costs law and provide our own summary of the key issues of the cases themselves.
Please Note: The issues discussed in these pages are a summary of our interpretation. We accept no liability for any misconstrued understanding of such summaries, nor any loss or damage sustained as a result of any reliance upon such summaries.
WHO PAYS? - DEFAULT COSTS CERTIFICATE AND RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS
Wednesday 6th July 2022
Daniel Jones
Utilising the Relief from Sanctions procedure, set out at CPR 3.9, can be a useful tool for practitioners when slippage of directions occurs or deadlines are missed during the course of litigation, however a conundrum is sometimes presented, to a Respondent, as to whether they should acquiesce to any Application or elect to take a more robust stance and risk costs penalties. The recent decision in SWIVEL v TECNOLUMEN [2022] EWHC 825 provides further guidance on this. The case concerned an appeal against a Relief from Sanctions Costs Order made by Master Whalan, wherein the Master set aside a Default Costs Certificate against the Paying Party/Appellant (SWIVEL), granted an interim payment to be made to Receiving Party/Respondent (TECNOLUMEN) and, finally,…
SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN A CASE AND A REMINDER CONCERNING THE IMPORTANCE OF COSTS BUDGET REVISION
Friday 20th May 2022
Daniel Jones
Costs Budgeting is now a familiar part of the legal landscape. Having taken a prominent role in Multi-Track Litigation since April 2013, however, an important aspect of the process is still frequently overlooked by many practitioners - jeopardising costs and their recovery. Variations to approved Costs Budgets have been an ever-evolving aspect of the Costs Management process since its inception, however it remains surprising how infrequently practitioners seek to revise a Costs Budget once the initial costs Case Management Conference has taken place. CPR 3.15A tells us that: - "(1) A party ("the revising party") must revise its budgeted costs upwards or downwards if significant developments in the litigation warrant such revisions. (2) Any budgets revised in accordance with paragraph (1) must…