Costs muppet
A further definition from The (Alternative) Legal Costs Dictionary: Costs muppet n. someone who had the stuffing knocked out of them when they read the Jackson Report’s proposals in relation to fixed fees.
Jackson Report – An Overview
The legal press and various other sources have been busy in recent weeks providing various summaries and commentaries on the final report of the Jackson Costs Review. One of the best comes from specialist costs counsel Andrew Hogan of Ropewalk Chambers (although I don’t necessarily agree with all of his interpretations of the proposals or
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Costs Law Reports
In a previous post I commented on the unsatisfactory way that legal costs case law (see post) is scattered all over the place and the problems this causes trying to keep on top of developments. One potential solution to this problem may come from the re-launched Costs Law Reports. This is a publication that has
Reasonable legal costs – Compared to what?
It is not unusual for me to make offers in relation to claimants’ bills of costs that represents only a fraction of the amount claimed. However, from time to time the response I receive is not simply the inevitable one of displeasure but what appears to be a genuine reaction of incredulity. There appears to
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Another VAT change?
Legal costs practitioners are still struggling to work out exactly how the most recent VAT change impacts on what level of VAT to apply to different periods in bills of costs. What news do we now receive? Both Labour and the Conservatives are apparently considering a VAT increase to 20% to help fill the massive
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Bill of Costs
To outsiders the language of the legal costs world can seem strange and archaic. Why are “indemnity costs” and the “indemnity principle” totally different and totally unrelated? Why did “taxing masters” have nothing to do with tax? To help cast some light on this obscure area of law the Legal Costs Blog is pleased introduce The (Alternative)
Default costs certificates
In legal costs it can often be the case that a judgment that is concerned with one particular issue may have unexpected relevance in another area. One example of this is the case of Roundstone Nurseries Ltd v Stephenson Holdings Ltd [2009] EWHC 1431 (TCC). The matter concerned a claim where proceedings had been issued.
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Court of Appeal Legal Costs Judgments
You wait ages for an interesting legal costs decision from the Court of Appeal and then two come along together. Both cases concerned a similar issue as to the extent of a costs judge’s discretion to limit costs in a manner that appears to go beyond a strict reading of the final costs order.
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Middleton v Vosper Thornecroft (UK) Ltd
I acted in a detailed assessment recently where the Claimant had failed to serve a statement of reasons in respect of the success fee in accordance with CPD 32.5(3) when serving the bill of costs and notice of commencement. The appropriate statement was subsequently served. It was argued for the Defendant that the failure to
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Business Environment Bow Lane Ltd v Deanwater Estates Ltd
Where a claimant has picked up one or more costs orders in its favour on the way to a trial, but fails very badly at the trial (for example due to exaggeration), can the costs judge assess those costs at nil on the footing that they were not, as it turned out, reasonably incurred because
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