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Watching the QOCS

24 February 2023 / David Bailey-Vella
Issue: 8014 / Categories: Features , Profession , Costs , Damages
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Has the delicate balance put in place by Lord Justice Jackson toppled over? David Bailey-Vella reports on the new landscape for qualified one-way costs shifting
  • The landscape for qualified one-way costs shifting is changing after a raft of satellite litigation.
  • The biggest issue in recent years has been the ability of unsuccessful defendants to set off costs awarded to them against only the damages awarded to the claimant, with the courts indicating this is a matter for the Civil Procedure Rule Committee.
  • A new statutory instrument coming into effect in April appears to favour defendants, claimant lawyers argue.

When Lord Justice Jackson recommended the introduction of qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS), I wonder if he anticipated just how much satellite litigation it would cause, and for how long.

There has been a rash of such cases, especially since last autumn. These include, in no particular order of importance:

  • Achille v Lawn Tennis Association Services Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1407: the Court of Appeal held that dismissal of the personal injury element
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

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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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