1 March 2017

One of the current battlefields in costs is over the issue of whether additional liabilities should be included (where still recoverable) when considering proportionality. One would have thought this was at least one area where there was no room for dispute as there is an express transitional provision dealing with this issue at CPR 48.1(1): […]

The decision by Regional Costs Judge Lumb in Merrix v Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust [2016] EWHC B28 (QB) caused many to question the point of costs budgeting. The issue the court faced was: “to what extent, if at all, does the costs budgeting regime under CPR Part 3 fetter the powers and discretion of