Simon Browne QC and Mark James successfully argued that the Court of Appeal should allow a £2.2M personal injury claim which had started in the MoJ portal (for claims less than £25,000), which had been an abuse of process, to continue under the CPR Part 7 claim process. The District Judge had struck out the claim as a matter of discretion and a first appeal to the Senior Regional Civil Judge had been dismissed.
Whether a defendant’s offer that made no mention of costs actually included an offer to pay costs; and, if it did, whether defendant could overcome the ‘formidable obstacle’ test to recover any costs incurred before the expiry of a subsequent defendant’s Part 36 offer that was accepted late.
First High Court decision addressing issues concerning “fundamental dishonesty” within the scope of section 57 Criminal Justice & Courts Act 2015.
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Broni v MoD [2015] EWHC 66 (QB), [2015] 1 Costs LR 111
Whether members of the armed services were ‘employees’ within CPR 45 Part IV. The outcome affected the size of the success fee.
Six day trial on the meaning and effect of terms and conditions in an ‘all risks’ commercial property insurance policy.
The meaning of ‘special circumstances’ within the context of the ‘one-fifth rule’ governing costs in solicitor-client detailed assessments.
Whether CPR r. 35.13 contained a ‘sanction’ for which relief must be sought when a party failed to serve an expert’s report in time.
Patterson v MoD [2012] EWHC 2767, [2013] 2 Costs LR 197
Meaning of the word ‘disease’ in CPR r. 45.23. The outcome affected the size of the success fee.
Tibbles v SIG plc [2012] EWCA Civ 518, [2012] 1WLR 2591
Circumstances in which discretion to vary an order under CPR r. 3.1(7) should be exercised.
Large group litigation claim on behalf of servicemen allegedly exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons during military testing in the 1950s – difficult points of law on s. 14 & s. 33 Limitation Act 1980 that reached the Supreme Court.
Whether the trial judge was right to exclude DNA evidence linking defendant to murder weapon in a Fatal Accidents claim.
Whether the court has any discretion to disallow interest due on a solicitor’s bill to its client in non-contentious work
Whether a solicitor’s indemnity against other side’s costs was void under the law of champerty.
Drake v Harbour [2008] EWCA Civ 25, [2008] NPC 11.
Application of res ipsa loquitur principle to establish cause of a fire.
31st July 2020
Simon Browne QC and Mark James successfully argued that the Court of Appeal should allow a £2.2M personal injury claim which had started in the MoJ portal (for claims less than £25,000), which had been an abuse of process, to continue under the CPR Part 7 claim process. The District Judge had struck out the claim as a matter of discretion and a first appeal to the Senior Regional Civil Judge had been dismissed.
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15th July 2020
Mark James and Matthew Waszak argued out an appeal on whether a defendant’s offer to settle that made no mention of costs actually included an offer to pay the costs of the claim and, if it did, whether the claimant should pay any of the defendant’s costs incurred before the expiry of a defendant’s Part 36 offer which the claimant accepted late.
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TGC Costs Newsletter
15th July 2020
Please see link below to the 6th edition of the the TGC Costs Newsletter.
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TGC Costs Newsletter
10th December 2018
Please see link below to the latest update from the TGC Costs Team.
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22nd January 2018
James Laughland, instructed by Roger Jones of Kennedys Law LLP, acted for the appellant who successfully challenged the trial judge’s finding that whilst there had been dishonesty, there had not been “fundamental dishonesty” within the scope of section 57 Criminal Justice & Courts Act 2015. Mark James, also of Temple Garden Chambers, acted for the Respondent. Both had appeared at trial and on appeal
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16th May 2016
Mark James, instructed by Stewart-Moore Solicitors, advised the well-known horse trainer Jim Best on the issue of apparent bias when it emerged that the chairman of the British Horseracing Association Disciplinary Panel that convicted him of misconduct and banned him for 4 years had the BHA as a client.
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Privacy Notice
Thank you for choosing to instruct me in your case. I will need to collect and hold your personal information in order to represent you. I will take all possible steps to protect your personal information. I am determined to do nothing that would infringe your rights or undermine your trust. This Privacy Notice describes the information I collect about you, how it is used and shared, and your rights regarding it.
Data Controller
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a Data Controller for the personal data that I hold and process as a barrister. My registered address is Temple Garden Chambers, London EC4Y 9DA.
Data Collection
The vast majority of the information that I hold about you is provided to or gathered in the course of your case and/or proceedings. Your solicitor and/or I will tell you why we need the information and how we will use it. Typically I will need the information to advise you about your case, represent you in court and/or to draft documents (including court documents) on your behalf.
My Lawful Basis for processing your information
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires all organisations that process personal data to have a Lawful Basis for doing so. Ordinarily my Lawful Basis is likely to be one or more of the following five reasons:
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- Compliance with a legal obligation
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- Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party
Some of the information you provide to me (e.g. copies of your medical records and details of your address and date of birth) is likely to be in a ‘special category’ of personal data. Usually I will process this data for one or more of the following reasons:
- The data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of this data for the purpose of advising the data subject about his/her claim, drafting documents (including court documents) or representing the data subject in court;
- Processing relates to personal data which are manifestly made public by the data subject (e.g. when a document is put into a bundle for use in court); and,
- Processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity.
I use your information to:
- Provide legal advice and representation and to draft documents (including documents for use in court);
- Assist in training pupils and mini-pupils;
- Enable a paralegal to help me to work on your case;
- Investigate and address your concerns;
- Investigate or address legal proceedings relating to your use of my services/products, or as otherwise allowed by applicable law;
I do not use automated decision-making in the processing of your personal data.
I collect and process both personal data and special categories of personal data as defined in the GDPR. This includes:
Client data
- Name
- Email
- Phone number
- Address
- Payment or bank details
- Date of birth
- Location details
- Device IP address
- Financial information
- Medical Records
- Criminal Records
I may share your personal data with:
- Instructing solicitors;
- Pupil or mini pupil, under my training;
- A paralegal under my supervision;
- Opposing Counsel, for the purposes of resolving the case;
- My Chambers management and staff who provide administrative services;
- My regulator or legal advisors in the event of a dispute or other legal matter;
- Law enforcement officials, government authorities, or other third parties to meet our legal obligations;
- Any other party where I ask you and you consent to the sharing.
Transfers to third countries and international organisations
I do not transfer any personal data to third countries or international organisations.
I retain your personal data while you remain a client unless you ask me to delete it. My Retention and Disposal Policy (copy available on request) details how long I hold data for and how I dispose of it when it no longer needs to be held. Generally I will hold you data for at least 7 years. I will delete or anonymise your information at your request unless:
- There is an unresolved issue, such as claim or dispute;
- I am legally required to; or
- There are overriding legitimate business interests, including but not limited to fraud prevention and protecting customers’ safety and security.
Your Rights
The General Data Protection Regulation gives you specific rights around your personal data. For example, you have to be informed about the information I hold and what I use it for, you can ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you, you can ask us to correct any inaccuracies with the personal data I hold, you can ask us to stop sending you direct mail, or emails, or in some circumstances ask us to stop processing your details. Finally, if I do something irregular or improper with your personal data you can seek compensation for any distress you are caused or loss you have incurred. You can find out more information from the ICO’s website http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information and this is the organisation that you can complain to if you are unhappy with how I dealt with you.
Accessing and Correcting Your Information
You may request access to, correction of, or a copy of your information by contacting me at Temple Garden Chambers, London EC4Y 9DA or clerks@tgchambers.com.
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I will occasionally update my Privacy Notice. When I make significant changes, I will notify you of these through either mail or email. I will also publish the updated Notice on my website profile.