Author name: Simon Gibbs

Another member of the judiciary has come out in support of the importance of Costs Lawyers in the costs budgeting process. Master David Cook, speaking at a seminar at 7 Bedford Row chambers, was quoted as saying: “costs lawyers should be discouraged from attending budgeting hearings as they do not have the knowledge of the […]

Press release from well known personal injury solicitors commenting on holiday illness claim, where solicitors were acting for 276 clients, quoting their head of travel law: “It is almost beyond belief that [the Defendant] has continued to deny liability for this terrible outbreak”. Success fee claimed for this clearly clear-cut claim: 100%. You couldn’t make

The move from costs estimates to costs budgets has left rather a mess in the rules due to the absence of transitional provisions. Nevertheless, under the old rules, and to the extent to which the old costs estimate rules continue to apply, the response of receiving parties to objections concerning inaccurate estimates is invariably, in

The media has a terrible habit of attributing expert status to those who clearly have no right to be called anything of the sort. Fox News famously interviewed a “terrorism expert” who claimed “In Britain, it’s not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don’t

I recently received an offer as follows: “We confirm that we can agree to accept the sum of £18,800.00 in settlement of our costs, this offer is made subject to S1 Part 36 CPR, applies to the whole of this matter and is open for acceptance for 7 days. If we do not hear from

And another thing… Problem: Many judges make the average doctor’s handwriting look as though it was the winning entry to a calligraphy competition. They try to write their decisions to the provisional assessment in boxes which have been left smaller than a postage stamp by the receiving party. The decision is written in light green

More issues as to provisional assessment… Problems: The timing of certain steps in the process is confusing at best. The parties are meant to undertaken the arithmetic on the Bill as assessed post-provisional assessment. However, how does the judge undertake, where relevant, the global proportionality cross-check if the judge does not know the figure that

More problems with the provisional assessment process… Problems: The, very limited, provisional assessment pilot was based on claims for costs with a value of up to £25,000. When provisional assessment was rolled out the figure was moved up to £75,000. This was an interesting experiment. It failed. The provisional assessment rules do not require the

Another issue with provisional assessment… Problem: The rules remain a mess over the issue of what is or is not included in the £1,500 provisional assessment cap. There has already been one amendment to try to clarify the issue but a second is needed. Does the £1,500 include or exclude the costs of negotiating costs

The Forum of Insurance Lawyers is liaising with the Association of Costs Lawyers to identify and suggest solutions to the various problems with the new provisional assessment process. One suggestion… Problem: Provisional assessment proceeds on the clearly mistaken belief that either disputes over claims for costs with a value of up to £75,000 are entirely