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The insider: 14 November 2025

14 November 2025 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 8139 / Categories: Opinion , Profession , Legal services , Costs , Fees
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Mazur is still grabbing all the headlines. And rightly so, says Dominic Regan, amid rumblings that the decision was wrongly decided

There is more to litigation life than Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB), although it is impossible to avoid the torrent of material it continues to generate.

The decision is not being appealed. It is binding on masters and district judges. Regional Costs Judge Richard Lumb, speaking at the end of last month, explained that he was duty-bound to apply the decision, and said he had done so in a possession case before him where it was obvious from the costs schedule that a grade D fee earner had conducted throughout. Consequently, costs claimed in the region of £3,000 were not allowed. All that could be recovered were fixed costs which, inclusive of the court issue fee, came to less than £500.

Last week, I had the luxury of hosting a discussion about Mazur with Ben Williams KC of 4 New Square

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NEWS
The High Court’s decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys has thrown the careers of experienced CILEX litigators into jeopardy, warns Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers in NLJ this week
Sir Brian Leveson’s claim that there is ‘no right to jury trial’ erects a constitutional straw man, argues Professor Graham Zellick KC in NLJ this week. He argues that Leveson dismantles a position almost no-one truly holds, and thereby obscures the deeper issue: the jury’s place within the UK’s constitutional tradition
Why have private prosecutions surged despite limited data? Niall Hearty of Rahman Ravelli explores their rise in this week's NLJ 
The public law team at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer surveys significant recent human rights and judicial review rulings in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley examines how debarring orders, while attractive to claimants seeking swift resolution, can complicate trials—most notably in fraud cases requiring ‘particularly cogent’ proof
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