PI Brief Update

The 'Relevant Period' in a Part 36 offers means what you think it does - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

18/04/25. Henderson and Jones Limited v Salica Investments Limited and Others [2025] EWHC 838 (Comm)

Date of judgment: 4 April 2025

This case is an illuminating decision on the con...

Wagatha Costie - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

16/04/25. The judgment in Rebekah Vardy v Coleen Rooney [2025] EWHC 851 (KB) arose from an appeal concerning the costs associated with the highly publicised defamation proceedings b...

Child Sexual Abuse Litigation Reforms - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

18/03/25. The UK Government has announced its intention to implement a number of key recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). There is no draft...

Birley v Heritage Independent Living Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 44 - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

25/02/25. This appeal concerns costs and the interaction between qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) in personal injury claims and cost recovery rules in information law clai...

Aviva Insurance Limited v Atiquillar Nadeem and Masoud Sidiqi [2024] EWHC 3445 (KB) - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

21/02/25. Date of judgment: 16 October 2024 (but recently published).

The judgment from HHJ Tindal sitting as a judge of the High Court in these recent contempt proceedings traver...

Majid Ali v HSF Logistics Polska SP Zoo [2024] EWCA Civ 1479 - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

24/01/25. Date of judgment: 4 December 2024.

Whilst Ali v HSF is a case arising in credit hire litigation, the Court of Appeal’s recent decision is of broader significance to injury...

CXC (a protected party by her litigation friend BXB) v (1) David Clarke, (2) EUI Limited [2024] EWHC 3138 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

22/01/25. CXC considers the use of intermediaries to assist vulnerable witnesses to give evidence in personal injury proceedings.

Background

On 16 September 2007, the Claimant (who...

FXS v The Mulberry Bush Organisation Ltd [2024] EWHC 2844 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

18/12/24. Date of judgment: 8 November 2024

FXS considered issues of costs where a claimant had not succeeded in establishing negligence at trial but was successful on other issues...

Elysa Alton v Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen [2024] EWCA Civ 1435 - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

17/12/24. Date of judgment: 6 November 2024

Alton is an important decision for practitioners bringing and responding to claims arising from road traffic accidents where issues of i...

Oakwood Solicitors Ltd v Menzies [2024] UKSC 34 - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

22/11/24. Date of judgment: 23 October 2024

This significant costs judgment concerned when a client can apply to have their solicitor’s bill of costs assessed under section 70 of ...

BJB, In the Matter of [2024] EWCOP 59 (T2) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

19/11/24. Date of judgment: 24 October 2024

In BJB, In the Matter of [2024] EWCOP 59 (T2) the Court of Protection considered a seriously injured party’s application to be released f...

Williams-Henry v Associated British Ports & Anor (Re Wasted Costs Order) [2024] EWHC 2415 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

16/10/24. What are the duties of claimants’ lawyers once a defendant serves evidence of fundamental dishonesty? By continuing to act on a CFA to trial, do those lawyers expose th...

Difficult claimant evidence and partisan experts: Steven Wilson v Ministry of Justice [2024] EWHC 2389 (KB) - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

14/10/24. Date of judgment : 20 September 2024.

On 2 July 2018 Mr Wilson suffered life-threatening and life-changing injuries after being repeatedly and viciously stabbed by a fello...

MoJ Quarterly Civil Justice Statics Published - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

18/09/24. The Ministry of Justice (‘MoJ’) has published its latest quarterly civil justice statics for April – June 2024.

These include a number of interesting points for persona...

Novel points about group representative actions - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

13/09/24. Case:  Claire Smyth v British Airways plc and Easyjet Airline Company Limited [2024] EWHC 2173 (KB)

Date of judgment: 2 September 2024

Smyth v British Airways is a nota...

Is a formal application to amend a costs budget always necessary and wise? Masudur Rahman v Dewan Hassan and Others [2024] EWHC 2038 (Ch) - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

22/08/24. Date of judgment: 1 August 2024

HHJ Paul Matthews sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge considered a number of consequential matters following a three week trial where th...

Attempted second bite of the cherry or a different fruit all together? Outotec and another v MW High Tech Projects UK Limited [2024] EWCA Civ 844 - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

19/08/24. Date of judgment: 24 July 2024

Perfect for mid-summer reading, this case is about the much litigated question of whether a party was trying to have a second bite of the ...

The failure to pay costs is not a contempt enforceable by committal to prison - Nancy Kelehar, Temple Garden Chambers

25/07/24. Smith v Kirkegaard [2024] EWCA Civ 698

Date of Judgment: 21/06/2024

The history between the parties to this appeal dated back to January 2018 when Mr Smith published a tw...

Damages awarded against Gary Glitter for historic sexual abuse: BRS v Paul Francis Gadd [2024] EWHC 1403 KB - Amy Lanham Coles, Temple Garden Chambers

24/07/24. This case deals with the valuation of damages under the latest Judicial Colleges Guidelines (JCGs) for complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) arising from hist...

Defendant requests for medical testing demand a careful balancing exercise - Amy Lanham Coles, Temple Garden Chambers

23/07/24. Clarke v Poole [2024] EWHC 1509 (KB). 

This case provides an important re-examination of the law governing a thorny case management issue. Can and should a Claimant...

Nigel Mather & Ors v Lakbir Basran & Ors [2025] EWHC 438 (Ch) HHJ - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

17/04/25. In Mather v Basran , the High Court addressed several issues surrounding an adjournment request made by the Defendant, Mr Rattan, on medical grounds during a trial involv...

Multi Track allocation remains decisive to the disapplication of the Fixed Costs rules - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

15/04/25 . Laura Attersley v UK Insurance Limited [2025] EWHC 884 (KB) 

Date of judgment: 11 April 2025

This claim arose from unremarkable circumstances: a claim for personal ...

Morris v Williams [2025] EWHC 218 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

19/03/25. In Morris v Williams [2025] EWHC 218 (KB) , District Judge Dodsworth considered whether a letter from the Claimant’s former solicitor, which contained proposals to settle ...

Omanovic v Shamaazi Ltd & Ismael Abdela Mohammed [2025] EWHC 110 (KB) - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

24/02/25. Date of judgment: 21 January 2025

Introduction

An important point of civil procedure recently arose in this claim for breach of contract and tortious conspiracy which can...

Smith -v- AXA Insurance UK PlC & Spectra Drive Limited (24th December 2024) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

23/01/25. Smith is the latest decision in the long-running trench warfare between credit hire companies and defendant insurers on the issue of non-party costs orders (NCPOs). Des...

Majid Saadati v Seye Dastghaib and Andreas Rudolf Bihrer [2024] EWHC 3336 (KB) - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

21/01/25. Date of judgment: 20 December 2024.

Practitioners making hasty applications for default judgment ought to keep in mind the law of unexpected consequences. Applications f...

Christine Bangs v FM Conway Limited [2024] EWCA Civ 1461 - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

16/12/24. Date of judgment: 6 November 2024

This appeal was unusual because it is a rare example of the Court of Appeal intervening to reverse a decision to set aside the strike o...

PMC v Local Health Board [2024] EWHC 2969 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

13/12/24. Date of judgment: 6 November 2024

In PMC , the High Court provided instructive guidance on reporting restrictions in the clinical negligence context.

Background

The Claimant...

Senay & Anor v Mulsanne Insurance Company Ltd [2024] EWCC 12 - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

21/11/24. Date of judgment: 24 May 2024

How does a finding of fundamental dishonesty in respect of a claimant’s personal injury claim impact their right to recover damage for prop...

Tindall and another v Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police [2024] UKSC 33 - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

18/11/24. Date of judgment: 23 October 2024

The Supreme Court has handed down an important decision on the duty of care in negligence. Tindall revisits the vexed question in English...

Andrew Reynolds v Chief Constable of Kent Police [2024] EWHC 2487 (KB) - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

17/10/24. Date of judgment: 2 October 2024.

Mr Reynolds was found by HHJ Brown sitting with a jury at Canterbury County Court to have been falsely imprisoned by Kent Police for a ...

Special measures in the civil courts: IMX v Bicknell [2024] EWHC 2183 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

15/10/24. Whilst it is not unusual for special measures to be imposed in criminal and family law trials involving vulnerable parties, they are a less common feature in the civil ...

Managing the costs of costs management brought into sharp focus - Andrew Ratomski, Temple Garden Chambers

20/09/24. Case: Peter Jenkins v Thurrock Council [2024] EWHC 2248 (KB)

Date of judgment: 9 September 2024

Managing the costs of costs management is brought into sharp focus by the re...

New Clinical Negligence Agreement Launched - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

16/09/24. The updated ‘Clinical Negligence Claims Agreement 2024’ has been launched, replacing the ‘Covid-19 Clinical Negligence Protocol’ established in 2020. This updated agree...

Expert witnesses and apparent bias: Biggadike v El Farra & Anor [2024] EWHC 1688 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

21/08/24 . This case provides an interesting commentary on the issue of expert witnesses and apparent bias.

Facts

Biggadike was a clinical negligence action against two defendants o...

Defendant's own YouTube posts provided evidence of contempt: Wye Valley NHS Trust v Murphy [2024] EWHC 1912 (KB) - Philip Matthews, Temple Garden Chambers

20/08/24. This case, an application for committal for contempt of court, is noteworthy for the extent of evidence which came from the Defendant himself in the form of social medi...

Spanish Interest: Is an English court obliged to award 'penalty' interest? - Pierre Janusz & Anna Gatrell, 3 Hare Court

22/07/24. The recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Nicholls & Ors v. Mapfre [2024] EWCA Civ 718 provided the Court of Appeal with an opportunity to give a definite ruling on...

Claimant has 'only himself to blame' for dismissal of multi-million-pound claim on the basis of fundamental dishonesty - Nancy Kelehar, Temple Garden Chambers

19/07/24. Shaw v Wilde [2024] EWHC 1660 (KB)

Date of Judgment: 27/06/2024

On 30 June 2018, the Defendant drove into collision with the Claimant’s motorcycle causing the 26-year-old...

'What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander', but no presumption in favour of indemnity costs for unsuccessfully pursuing fundamental dishonesty - Amy Lanham Coles, Temple Garden Chambers

24/06/24. Thakkar v Mican [2024] EWCA Civ 552.

This case started, and notably ended, its life as a “straightforward” road traffic accident claim. In the interim, the First and Sec...

Pre-commencement Funding Arrangement vs. Protection under QOCS, plus a cameo for proprietary estoppel - Nancy Kelehar, Temple Garden Chambers

20/06/24. Thomas v Southwick Car Centre Ltd [2024] EWHC 1315 (SCCO).

A personal injury claim arose out of a tripping incident on the Defendant’s premises in May 2012. At trial in ...