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Mind the trips & slips (Pt 3)

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04 September 2015 / HH Judge Simon Brown KC
Issue: 7666 / Categories: Features
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HHJ Simon Brown tussles with time for costs & consequential orders

At 3.30pm I gave judgment for the claimant for £1,250 (50% contributory negligence). CPR 28.6.5 estimates that there are 30 minutes to go for “costs and consequential orders”. We shall see, and only the defendant’s counsel had brought a White Book with him.

Statements of costs

The court clerk then handed me the statement of costs (summary assessment) filed by the claimants correctly more than two days before the trial (CPR 28.6.6). Ironically, I already had the defendant’s statement because it was filed out of time to the wrong court section marked “urgent” so that someone brought it to my chambers shortly before the hearing! They were in a form that I was familiar with but not in the Precedent H format that is easier to fathom how and why costs are incurred. Anyway, I looked at the grand totals:…wait for it…£5,353 (defendant)…and….£33,065 (claimant)!

Successful party?

Both parties claimed to be the “successful” one! As a first

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