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Money talks

19 September 2013 / Mark James
Issue: 7576 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Costs
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Elvanite provides an important lesson in costs budgeting, says Mark James

Costs budgeting has been with us for nearly six months now. Most practitioners still have little experience of filling in a Form H. What they all have is a fear that they might get it wrong and that, as a consequence, their winning client may not be able to recover reasonable and proportionate costs from the losing party; and, that their firm may be asked by the aggrieved client to make up the shortfall by writing off part or all of its fees. At the heart of this fear is uncertainty as to how much leeway the court will give a solicitor who has made a mistake in his budget. The mixed messages from the courts have not helped. Under the pre-April 2013 pilot schemes the courts talked tough but, when it came to it, the decisions were sympathetic to the erring party. Thus, in Henry v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2013] EWCA

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Kingsley Napley—Claire Green

Kingsley Napley—Claire Green

Firm announces appointment of chief legal officer

Weightmans—Emma Eccles & Mark Woodall

Weightmans—Emma Eccles & Mark Woodall

Firm bolsters Manchester insurance practice with double partner appointment

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
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