| A recent High Court ruling has added to lawyers’ current understanding of how costs capping works in practice. In last month’s unreported case of L v London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Master Yoxall declined an invitation from the Defendant’s solicitors to make an order to cap the Claimant’s costs where the Claimant’s claim was publicly funded. Master Yoxall bore in mind the continuing obligations on the Claimant’s solicitors to justify expenditure on the case to the Legal Services Commission when giving his judgment:
“There is no evidence before me that those acting for the Claimant are acting extravagantly or unreasonably… save that I am being invited to infer this from the estimates in the Claimant’s allocation questionnaire that unreasonable conduct is going on” Master Yoxall said.
The case concerned a claim for compensation arising out of allegations of sexual abuse by an employee of the Defendant when the Claimant was a child. The Claimant’s solicitors had estimated costs to trial of £60,000, and current costs of £21,500 in the allocation questionnaire which were well above those costs estimated by the Defendant for defending the claim. However the Judge felt that, should the Defendants lose the case, they were adequately protected on costs by the detailed assessment procedure, and he “did not believe it is appropriate or fair to the Claimant” to make the order sought. The Defendant’s application was dismissed with costs.
Jonathan Wheeler of Bolt Burdon Kemp who represents the Claimant said: “This was clearly the right decision in this case. The Defendant was attempting to use the costs capping procedure to stifle a legitimate claim which was properly stamped on by the judge.”
The Defendant is represented by Browne Jacobson in Nottingham. ......read
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