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02 August 2024 / Jack Ridgway
Issue: 8082 / Categories: Features , Profession , Dispute resolution
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Part 36: Does justice have a price?

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Jack Ridgway shares his reflections on the significance of Hugh Grant’s (reluctant) acceptance of a Pt 36 offer
  • The importance of Pt 36.
  • The consequences of failing to beat Pt 36.
  • The role of Pt 36 where money is not the driving factor in the litigation.

The world of legal costs and celebrity rarely interact, yet in the past few years we have had legal costs enter the public consciousness on two occasions: the infamous ‘Wagatha Christie’ saga (‘Welcome to the jungle (Pt 2)’, 169 NLJ 7868, p15), and more recently (in April) Hugh Grant (‘The insider’, NLJ, 17 May 2024, p7). While Coleen Rooney had her day in court, Hugh Grant (pictured) has cast the spotlight on legal costs for a very different reason—Pt 36.

While some sympathy can be felt for an individual who feels wronged and has not ‘had their day’ in court, it should be remembered that Hugh Grant has received damages without going to trial in several libel claims, going

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

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Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

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NLJ this week: Prenups meet a jurisdictional brick wall
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
NLJ this week: Has Rylands v Fletcher come back from the dead?
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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