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06 August 2009
Issue: 7381 / Categories: Case law , Law digest
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Solicitors' costs

Bilkus v Stockler Brunton (a firm) [2009] EWHC 1957 (Ch), [2009] All ER (D) 326 (Jul)

The focus of the definition of “contentious work” for the purposes of the Solicitors’ (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 1994 (SI 1994/2616) was on the time when the proceedings were begun, not the time when they ended.

Provided the proceedings were begun before a court, it was then a question of fact, in any given case, whether work was subsequently done either in or for the purposes of those proceedings.

A clear distinction could therefore be drawn from cases where the court had decided that a particular item of property was to be transferred by one party to another, for example in ancillary relief proceedings following a divorce or in proceedings for specific performance of a contract, and where all that remained to be done was to give effect to that decision by carrying out the necessary conveyancing formalities.
 

Issue: 7381 / Categories: Case law , Law digest
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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