Congratulations to Nick Bacon of 4 New Square.
I had wondered whether it was time for a second costs specialist silk so today’s announcement came as no surprise.
Who’s next I wonder? Alex Hutton or Ben Williams would be my guess.
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Our first notable costs result of 2010 fell short of a contested hearing.
Brief facts:
Libel claimant recovered nominal damages of £12,500 plus an apology.
Bill came in (including success fees and ATE premium) at a whopping £296,000.
Settllement in the week before a two-day detailed assessment ……. £165,000.
Given the settlement included interest and the costs of the costs fight (a good eight months worth) this represented a major climbdown by the claimant.
No wonder media defendants are getting ready to test the water on a range of costs cases in the wake of the Jackson report.
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It is fairly rare these days for us to take an assessment of costs between client and solicitors all the way to a contested hearing.
But the assessment hearing my colleague Justin Edwards appeared on yesterday was exceptional in every respect.
The bill (for administration of an estate) came down from £145,000 to £25,000. Justin had advised our client to offer £30,000 so it became very expensive for our opponents in costs as well (to the tune of a further £18,000).
Their own costs would easily have exceeded the remaining £7,000 so it proved a salutary lesson in keeping one’s client informed as to costs.
A bill of £145,000 more than wiped out – plus a disciplinary referral to the Law Society.
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