In the case of Suinner v FBN Bank (UK) Ltd [SCCO] 22/2/07 the Claimant instructed Sherringtons solicitors to act for him in relation to an EL matter under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The CFA recommended that the Claimant take out an after-the-event (ATE) insurance policy with Costsupport. The CFA stated that: “This is because” […]
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In the case of Brady v Rec-Tech Leisure Ltd (Tunbridge Wells County Court, 24/4/07), the Claimant, through her litigation friend, instructed Branton Edwards solicitors (now Branton Bridge) to act under a CFA. The case had been referred to Branton Edwards through Result Management Ltd (Result), a claims management company. The CFA recommended that the Claimant
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The Court of Appeal’s decision last week in Lamont v Burton [2007] EWCA Civ 429 is likely to have serious costs implications for defendants and impact on the way personal injury claims are conducted. The case concerned the application of the fixed success fee regime under Part 45. Although the case itself concerned an RTA
A recent decision, Various Claimants v Gower Chemicals Ltd & Others (Cardiff County Court, 28/2/07), has done much to nullify the effect of the old Collective Conditional Fee Agreement Regulations 2000. This was an appeal heard by Mr Justice Field (sitting as a County Court Judge) from a decision of Master Wright of the Supreme
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Three recent Court of Appeal decisions have done much to clarify the powers of a costs judge, during detailed assessment, in relation to disallowing costs on the grounds of the conduct of the receiving party. The difficulties in this area were largely caused by a High Court decision, Aaron v Shelton [2004] EWHC 1162. That
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The 2007 edition of His Honour Michael Cook’s leading text on legal costs Cook on Costs has now been published. In his preface he comments that he has been “rigorously selective” in the decisions that he included in the book. Nevertheless, three decisions where the advocates at Gibbs Wyatt Stone acted have been included (Pirie
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A few months ago we reported on the Court of Appeal’s decision in Jones v Caradon Catnic Ltd [2005] EWCA Civ 1821 (see our earlier Costs Law Update) where the Court was faced with a case run under a Collective Conditional Fee Agreement where the solicitors, Thompsons, had prepared a risk assessment seeking a success
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A recent decision of the Court of Appeal, Gaynor v Central West London Buses Ltd [2006] EWCA Civ 1120, has potentially massive significance in terms of costs recoverability in CFA cases. The decision, followed through to its logical conclusion, appears to be that a claimant cannot enter into a CFA, and thereby recover a success
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Judgment has been handed down by the Court of Appeal in the long awaited cases of Garrett v Halton Borough Council and Myatt v National Coal Board [2006] EWCA Civ 1017. These cases will have a crucial impact on pre-November 2005 CFAs. Both cases revolved around interpreting the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision in Hollins
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Brierley v Prescott – Retrospective CFAs In Brierley v Prescott [2006] EWHC 90062 (Costs) Master Gordon-Saker was asked to rule on whether an attempt to correct a CFA that was allegedly defective had succeeded as a result of the solicitors and their client entering into a retrospective CFA after the conclusion of the case. The
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