Principal Costs Officer Denis O’Riordan is retiring from the Senior Courts Costs Office. Over the years I may not have always achieved the exact result I might have hoped for, but it has always been a pleasure to appear before him. What stands out is that I cannot recall a single occasion where I have […]
Denis O'Riordan's retirement Read More »
Following on from my two-part article on the Leeds provisional assessment pilot, in Costs Lawyer magazine, District Judge Hill wrote a very informative article in response. One of the areas of concern that I highlighted was the fact that the rules did not allow for the court to know what offers have been made and
Provisional Assessment Pilot – Unanswered problems Read More »
My two-part article from Costs Lawyer magazine on the county court provisional assessment pilot can now be read in the News section of our website for those who missed it the first time.
Provisional Assessment Pilot article Read More »
We previously considered, in some detail, the article that appeared in the Law Society Gazette and Costs Lawyer magazine from District Judge (and Regional Costs Judge) Hill on the rights of audience of non-solicitor agents. The conclusion of the article was that a non-solicitor agent had no right to appear when the court is sitting
Challenges to non-Costs Lawyers? Read More »
An interesting example of losing while winning was seen in the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Morgan v The Spirit Group Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 68. In a personal injury claim damages were claimed at around £40,000. The matter was allocated to the multi-track. At trial the judge awarded damages of £13,419.03 inclusive of interest
Morgan v The Spirit Group Ltd Read More »
Any news on how the provisional assessment pilot is going?
Provisional Assessment Pilot Read More »
My latest Update: Costs for Solicitors Journal is now available to view online. The “apportionment” subject is fraught with complexity and I won’t pretend this is meant to be a definitive analysis of the issue or that the two first instance decisions mentioned, where I was acting for the defendants, would necessarily be decided the
Unlawful and grotesque funding arrangement? Read More »
Robert Males, writing in New Law Journal, expressed the view that: “I believe the solicitor is the best person to deal with negotiation and settlement of costs. If the matter proceeds to assessment then while the costs draftsman may be perfectly capable of putting forward the technical arguments in terms of costs recovery the conducting
Costs draftsman v Solicitor Read More »
This month’s edition of Costs Lawyer magazine contains at article from the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen’s Chairman Iain Stark continuing the discussion on the issue, raised by an earlier article by District Judge Hill, of whether independent law costs draftsmen, who are not costs lawyers, are able to appear in court. (See my previous
The costs lawyer's office cat Read More »
This follows on from yesterday’s post concerning rights of audience of law costs draftsmen. You will need to read that first to avoid any confusion over what follows. (The ALCD was granted Authorised Body Status by The Association of Law Costs Draftsmen Order 2006 (S.I. 2006 no 3333) which came into force on 1st January
Rights of audience of law costs draftsmen – Part 2 Read More »
