header-logo header-logo

Costs law brief

20 April 2007 / Prof A Mcgee , P Hughes , Dr Friston , M Smith
Issue: 7269 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
printer mail-detail

Ordinary claims, Defamation claims, Group litigation, Public interest challenges

Costs capping

In Willis v Nicolson [2007] EWCA Civ 199, the Court of Appeal (assisted by the senior costs judge as assessor) dealt with an appeal in respect of an application for a costs cap in a personal injury claim.  The claimant was a motorcyclist who had suffered extremely serious injuries in a road traffic accident.  On a full liability basis, the value of the claim is likely to be at least £5 million; the total costs for the whole action were estimated by the claimant’s solicitors at £959,342.

Field J refused the defendant’s application for a costs cap, but in order to provide her with a measure of protection, he ordered that the claimant be held to his latest estimate.

The Court of Appeal (Buxton, Smith and Wilson LLJs) dismissed the appeal for the primary reasons that it was now too late to impose a costs cap and also because of the further costs that would be

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Slater Heelis—Chester office

Slater Heelis—Chester office

North West presence strengthened with Chester office launch

Cooke, Young & Keidan—Elizabeth Meade

Cooke, Young & Keidan—Elizabeth Meade

Firm grows commercial disputes expertise with partner promotion

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

Blake Morgan managing partner appointed chair of CBI South-East Council

NEWS
The House of Lords has set up a select committee to examine assisted dying, which will delay the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
The proposed £11bn redress scheme following the Supreme Court’s motor finance rulings is analysed in this week’s NLJ by Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
back-to-top-scroll