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NLJ this week: Double offering on costs—fixed costs in intermediate track & discontinued claims

04 October 2024
Issue: 8088 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Costs
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Costs are an essential part of litigation but can be baffling for lawyers. Help is at hand in this week’s NLJ, with no less than two articles on this hugely important topic

First up, John O’Hare, a retired costs judge, offers advice on calculating what’s recoverable in fixed costs in intermediate track cases. O’Hare looks in detail at Practice Direction 45, Table 14, through which the amount payable to the winner is dependent on five calculations.

Next, Claudine Morgan, legal director, and Mary Barrett, associate, at Charles Russell Speechlys, discuss why defendants should not presume their costs will be met when claims are discontinued. While the general rule is that the defendant should not bear the burden of costs for a claim deemed not worth pursuing, the court may decide otherwise. But when, why, and under what circumstances? The authors explain.

Morgan and Barrett conclude with some sterling advice: ‘If an application is made, the dirty laundry of pre-action correspondence will inevitably be aired and parties should be prepared for criticism on conduct. An aggressive approach or tone can look very different with hindsight.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

Investment banking veteran appointed as chairman to drive global growth

NEWS
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
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