LawAssist is delighted to be associated with David Chalk, Head of Law at Winchester University
and a key contributor to 'Cook on Costs' and 'Butterworths' as well as being the author the renowned
'Risk Assessment in Litigation'.
David has taught law for over 25 years and is a board member of
the Commercial Litigation Association, member of the Minister's round table and a member of the
Department for Constitutional Affairs round table. David is also a regular speaker on the
circuit on all aspects of Law, costs, CFAs and insurance. David regularly produces e-Newsletters
and articles for LawAssist and the latest are listed below with further articles
available for download in the news archive section.
July August E News
A very busy time for Part 36: we have three recent decisions to report including the Court of Appeal's review of its own earlier decision in Carver v BAA. We also report a new decision concerning the power of the court to order disclosure of an ATE policy.
Two consultations are going to keep us busy over the summer - the Civil Justice Council on regulating Third Party Funding and the MoJ on implementing Jackson.
- Read moreJune E News
Something a little different this month as we take a look at how a court might approach an allegation of a fraudulent claim on an insurance policy, with a useful illustration of how a court proceeds where there is no persuasive explanation of what happened.
On more traditional lines we have another example of relief from sanctions where form N251 requirements were not met. Yet more on Part 36 and the question of its application to costs assessments and a closer look at Kris Motors (see last month) and taking out ATE late in the day. Finally a brief mention of the proposed new SRA Code.
- Read moreMay E News 2010
Risk in litigation: the Court of Appeal in a claim against Linklaters; Solicitors' duties to advise clients as to their costs risk and particularly the availability of After the Event insurance; A challenge to a significant ATE premium fails.
- Read moreTopic Index
Please find below a Topic Index where you can download E-News/information listed in alphabetical order. Just click on the link to open or download.
- Read moreApril E News 2010
ATE: challenges to the level of a premium and use of ATE as security for costs; CFA client's challenge to the validity of a CFA that reasons for success fee not given; Costs assessment approach where London solicitors used for a PI claim that could have been handled out of London.
- Read moreNew Litigator Scheme as of 30 April 2010
Stop Press - New RTA Protocol
The new scheme for RTA claims up to £10,000 comes into effect on 30 April. To coincide with the changes to the RTA protocol, changes have been made to the LawAssist Litigator delegated authority scheme for Personal Injury. For all your cases covered by the scheme our new Litigator product meets your needs and includes a discounted premium if the case settles in the protocol period
- Read moreMarch E News
Progress has been made with the changes to the CPR to provide for the new RTA scheme due to come in on 30 April having at last been published but no progress on the Jackson front. Case law provides an interesting trip through Champerty and Maintenance in respect of a CFA indemnifying adverse costs, a solicitors firm's failure to advise on funding leading to a nil assessment of own costs, and another Part 36 decision to keep that E- News theme going.
- Read more
February 2010
Two decisions on the issue of which track should be used in an award of costs and an mportant decision of the Court of Appeal that a solicitor can terminate a retainer where the client insists on an argument being put forward in which the solicitor has no faith. Plus the (unpublished) Rules for the new the RTA scheme and the (published) Regulations to go with contingency fees in employment tribunals.
- Read more
January E news 2010
Yet more on Part 36 as we start a new year with a particularly interesting view of a defendant with a potential counterclaim using the Part 36 provisions relating to claimants. A clinical negligence firm's fourth foray into the courts with its CFA results in a 100% success fee being reduced to 80%. Away from case law we have the lack of details for the April change in road traffic cases, changes to the SRA guidance on referrals and the MoJ's latest consultation document.
- Read moreNov/Dec E-Brief 09
Part 36 continues to provide entertainment and we look at two recent decisions of the Court of Appeal dealing with the intricacies of settlement. Biffa Waste returns to the screens with a costs capping decision and we take a look at an interesting own solicitor costs fight with a cancelled CFA. The Government's plans to regulate contingency fee agreements were severely clipped in the House of Lords at the end of the parliamentary session - we look at all that survived which is concerned only with employment tribunal cases.
- Read more