Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The executive chairman of Winn Group – one of the country’s largest personal injury firms – has described how the firm has moved into commercial litigation for cases worth less than £100,000.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed a high-profile entrepreneur’s appeal against a suspended jail sentence for contempt over unpaid legal fees, saying it could have been longer.

A client who went to the Court of Appeal to challenge the damages-based agreement she signed has admitted she alleged impropriety against her solicitors purely to escape payment.

The Court of Appeal has awarded indemnity costs against a couple who owe their former solicitors over £3m in outstanding legal fees and were committed to prison last year.

The strengthened rules on witness statements should not be used as a “weapon with which to fillet” essentially insignificant failures to comply, a High Court judge has said.

The Volkswagen NOx emissions group litigation settled yesterday for £193m – some £2,120 for each of the 91,000 claimants, but more like £3,000 when costs and other fees are added.

A pilot scheme that will see small claims cases determined on the paper in six county courts from next month is “likely to do injustice” to litigants, an academic has argued. Dr Kate Leader, senior lecturer at York University, said… Read More

UK law firms are risking their public reputation by working with Russian litigants, the largest group of international users of the Commercial Court in the last year, new research has warned.

Two Commercial Court judges have expressed annoyance with parties for taking unnecessary points, with one imposing a costs penalty in line with recent guidance.

The High Court has rejected an Italian law firm’s bid to stay a barrister’s claim for outstanding fees because of an action it took against him in its home country.