Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed their claims against Associated Newspapers this week. However, Campbell, consultant at Kain Knight, said: ‘The litigation is not yet over.’
Campbell said Associated Newspapers may seek to recover costs on an indemnity basis—reserved for cases where the court considers a party’s conduct has fallen outside the norm. If granted, it could recover ‘a substantially greater proportion of its legal costs because it would not have to satisfy the court that those costs were proportionate and necessary, only that they were reasonably incurred,’ he said.
‘In litigation of this scale, the difference could amount to a significant amount of money.
‘One important unanswered question is whether the claimants have after-the-event insurance in place, which is commonly used in high-value litigation to cover some or all of the legal costs a claimant may be ordered to pay if they lose. That is not currently known publicly, but it could become a significant issue as the proceedings move into the costs phase.’
