Civil questions answered

Solicitors consistently raised three questions on Professor Dominic Regan’s annual civil procedure tour, Regan writes in NLJ this week.

They concerned Part 36 offers, how difficult it is to get relief from sanctions, and how to determine whether costs are appropriate.

Giving answers, Regan, who advised Lord Justice Jackson on civil justice costs reform, advises that ‘the deadly trap within Part 36 is that an offer, once made, stays made. It doesn’t lapse through the passage of time’.

For those facing sanctions, he suggests they ‘remedy the lapse as fast as you can and simultaneously make an application for relief… explain how default occurred. It is compelling to point out, if you can, that the breach was innocent and not disruptive’.