In February we shared this article which discussed recovering costs lost in legal disputes.
Lord Justice Jackson has now published his review of civil litigation costs.
A regime of “fixed recoverable costs” had been expected for all civil claims up to £250,000 in value, with a table setting out how much the winner could recover from the loser towards their costs. This would have had a major impact on the economics of resolving disputes in court.
In fact the recommendations are somewhat diluted and more flexible. He has proposed the following.
You buy (or think you buy) a vacant investment property. You complete the purchase and all goes smoothly until you get a visit from someone who says he is the owner and that he never sold you anything…
You are about to sue a customer for unpaid invoices, or a supplier for faulty goods or services – or maybe they are suing you. The case will be disputed.
You are confident you will win but you need to know if you can recover your legal costs.
Of course, you also need to know the position on costs should you lose the case.
Despite the end of the agreed term lease, tenants of business premises have the right to remain in occupation of the premises, and the right to apply to the Court (if necessary) for the grant of a new lease.
Although the possibility is often overlooked at the outset of a business relationship, disputes in the boardroom or between shareholders can arise for a wide variety of reasons. Once the battle lines are drawn, this kind of dispute can become hugely disruptive and expensive, so it’s important to do what you can to prepare for these situations in advance, and to act swiftly when problems begin to surface.
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