QOCS – all change 6th April – what you must know

On 6 April, the rules on qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) will change. The upshot of the reform is to overturn the important judgments in the Court of Appeal in Cartwright and the Supreme Court in Ho, and provide that a claimant’s entitlement to costs is part of the overall fund against which costs set-off can be applied. The definition of costs orders will also be extended to deemed orders, meaning a defendant can enforce a deemed order for costs (especially following acceptance of a part 36 offer) without the permission of the court.

Meanwhile, the cases keep coming on fundamental dishonesty and the loss of costs protection. Just since November, various courts have held that dismissal of the personal injury element of a mixed claim did not mean the proceedings had concluded for the purposes of a costs order, the QOCS rules do not prevent the court from making a costs order on various failed interim applications, the bar to remove QOCS protection from a party who discontinues their case – even at the last minute – is very high, and that it is unjust and inconsistent with established authority to make a non-party costs order against a law firm whose client was protected from having to pay a defendant’s detailed assessment costs because of QOCS.

This webinar will look at the reform and other major QOCS issues of the moment, including:

• To which cases will the reforms apply?
• Tactical considerations
• Establishing fundamental dishonesty
• Why the 2022 case of Muyepa v MoD on fraudulent claims is so important
• Can a fundamentally dishonest claimant ever recover their true damages?