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Civil way: 12 May 2017

12 May 2017
Issue: 7745 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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Reasonable losers; invites to OS; statutorily demanding; actuaries on a high.

SMALL CLAIM, BIG POINT

The small claims costs protection after allocation applies not only up to and including the final hearing but to any appeal (CPR 27.14(1)). This leaves the represented loser rummaging for some unreasonable behaviour (within CPR 27.14(2)(g)) with which to sway the judge. So what does unreasonable behaviour mean? Like an elephant, perhaps difficult to describe but you know it when you see it.

In Dammermann v Lanyon Bowdler LLP [2017] EWCA Civ 269, [2017] All ER (D) 101 (Apr) it was decided that this dictum from Sir Thomas Bingham MR in Ridehalgh v Horsefield [1994] Ch 205, [1994] 3 All ER 848 (albeit dealing with wasted costs) should give sufficient guidance on what it meant: ‘Conduct cannot be described as unreasonable simply because it leads in the event to an unsuccessful result or because other more cautious legal representatives would have acted differently. The acid test is whether the conduct permits of a reasonable explanation. If so, the course

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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