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Relationships Count

The venture began in 1992 when Andy Ellis, a law graduate, joined Martyn Grant, who had been practising as a solicitor for ten years, to form Ellis Grant.

Many of our early clients are still clients - others have moved on but remain friends of the firm. Stuart Lockyear (then a partner at Stephens Innocent and now Director of Intellectual Property at fashion house Burberry) picks up the story:

We worked hard together and fought absolutely everything through taxation (as it was then). The attention to detail, typified in Martyn’s signature drafting style, provided the platform, while Andy and I tried to force the taxing officers into submission with ever more inventive arguments for higher hourly rates. We enjoyed some great results but there were some salutary moments along the way — none more so than when Andy was interrupted by the taxing master in full flow explaining just how senior and specialised I was as the conducting partner. “How long exactly have you been qualified, Mr Lockyear?” “Six years, Master” I replied, proudly. “Not especially senior then, in the context of a forty year career — 55% mark up” came the withering response.

Stuart Lockyear Director of Intellectual Property, Burberry

Breakthrough

Two cases in the mid ‘90s were responsible for earning Ellis Grant wider recognition. The first was Price and Ors v British Coal and the DTI when leading media and human rights lawyer Mark Stephens at Stephens Innocent took on and beat the government over the pit closures in Judicial review and Chancery injunction proceedings. Mark, now a senior partner at Finers Stephens Innocent, remembers the costs battle.

My team had worked round the clock over the intense period of the case and it was impractical to keep the usual time records: the costs fallout was potentially messy, with partial costs awarded in the Chancery proceedings and full costs in the JR. The only way Andy could draw the bill accurately was to dovetail the two sets of proceedings in a daily format. The DTI’s lawyers hated it but the novel drafting style found favour with Peter Hurst (the Chief Taxing Master as he then was). That calculated risk on presentation helped us to a very strong recovery. The icing on the cake was a then record 200% uplift on top of a very fair expense rate — a decision which held up on review and was not appealed. Mark Stephens Partner - Head of Media, Head of International, Finers Stephens Innocent

The second landmark case was Leigh Day’s immense effort to establish a causative link between leukaemia in children and environmental pollution from the Sellafield nuclear plant. The case became the subject of a television film Fighting For Gemma.

Martyn Day, the senior partner at Leigh Day & Co, led the case and instructed Martyn Grant on the legal aid taxation.

Martyn had to get to grips with a welter of scientific evidence and he took what proved a good decision to go into close detail in the bill which avoided the taxing master having to read through what would have been rooms-full of boxes of documents. It was still a massive exercise but the Chief Taxing Master acknowledged that it saved weeks of court time. It was a great piece of work and provided the foundation for the strong relationship we still have with Ellis Grant today. Martyn Day Senior Partner, Leigh Day & Co

Building on the past

Complex bills, especially for group actions, are the stiffest test of the abilities of any costs consultant or costs draftsman. Ellis Grant has compiled a strong record of involvement in a wide range of multi-party actions including for the British Coal Respiratory Disease and VWF Claimant Groups in England, Wales and Scotland. Work here has covered generic, lead case and individual tariff costs.

We have represented solicitor clients on detailed assessment in county courts throughout the country, in the Supreme Court Costs Office, the Privy Council and the House of Lords. In addition to detailed assessment and appeals we have participated in the mediation of costs disputes.

Niche markets for Ellis Grant include media law costs — defamation and confidence cases. For receiving parties we have been instructed not only in the longest libel trial in English legal history, Reed and Lillie v Newcastle City Council but also in the longest slander trial in English legal history, Maccaba v Lichtenstein.

For paying parties in media law we have been instructed in two cases that have been through trial, first appeal and the House of Lords — Campbell v MGN and Polanski v Conde Nast — as well as being instructed regularly by most of the major media groups for libel defence work.

Investing in the future

Growth for Ellis Grant has always been about investment in the quality of our people. We are very proud of having assembled and developed the team of consultants and support staff whose profiles appear on the following pages. It’s a team that welcomes any challenge, has acquired a lot of know-how and displays an unusual and impressive continuity.