header-logo header-logo

Put pen to paper

14 June 2012 / Simon Gibbs
Issue: 7518 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Costs
printer mail-detail

The absence of a written retainer can cause costs chaos, says Simon Gibbs

 

A useful reminder of the importance of understanding the basics of costs law comes  in the form of the decision of Mrs Justice Lang in Fladgate LLP v Harrison [2012] EWHC 67 (QB), [2012] All ER (D) 45 (Feb).
 
The defendant had instructed the claimant firm of solicitors to undertake certain work. The claimant sent the defendant a draft engagement letter setting out the terms of the instructions and asking the defendant to inform them if the letter was incorrect in any way. No response was made. A final version of the engagement letter was subsequently sent to the defendant, together with the firms’ terms of business and the defendant was invited to complete and sign the letter. No response was received to the letter and the claimant continued to act for the defendant. Various interim invoices were sent to the defendant. 

No written contract

In due course, the defendant
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
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
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
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
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
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll