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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (King's Bench Division) Decisions >> Hadley v Przybylo (Costs, Costs budgeting, Costs lawyers, personal injury, case manager, recoverability) [2023] EWHC 1392 (KB) (22 June 2023) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2023/1392.html Cite as: [2023] EWHC 1392 (KB) |
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KING'S BENCH DIVISION
B e f o r e :
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Thomas Hadley (A Protected Party By His Litigation Friend Laura McCarry) |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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Mateusz Przybylo |
Defendant |
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For the Defendant: Andrew Davis KC, instructed by Keoghs LLP
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Crown Copyright ©
Keywords: Costs budgeting – court ordered Alternative Dispute Resolution – ADR - Costs lawyers – Rehabilitation – personal injury – case manager – MDT – recoverability – costs – Issue and statements of case – progressive – litigation – Judgement of Solomon
Plain language summary (Flesch score over 50). This summary does not form part of judgment but must be included in any reproduction of the judgment.
This judgment is about whether some legal charges can be included in a court budget for a claim. A budget is a document which gives the expected cost of a court case right through to its end. The charges are money which the lawyers want to spend on going to meetings with Case Managers and deputies. The reason they want to spend the money is to keep the Schedule of Damages updated. The charges were included in the Issues and Statements of Case phase of the budget. A phase of a budget is a part of it which relates to a set of steps or actions in the case which the lawyers plan to take. The judge decided the charges are not claimable. The reason is that they do not progress the court case.
MASTER MCCLOUD:
Mandatory ADR and Costs Budgeting
"The parties shall engage in ADR in respect of the parties' costs (insofar as they are not already agreed), the professionals engaged in the ADR being appropriately experienced/qualified costs professionals, such ADR to be completed by 5pm on 3 March 2023".
The issue of the inclusion of time costs for fee earner attendance at case management meetings of medical and other professionals, and meetings with or attendance on Court of Protection deputies
Decision
"work relating to the preparation of the Claim Form, the Particulars of Claim, the issue and service of proceedings, consideration of the Defendant's statements of case, preparation of the Schedule of Loss, and conferences with counsel on the statements of case, and any amendments to the statements of case".
These are the sorts of things one would intuitively expect, ie those relating to issue of the claim and to statements of case.
The concept of 'costs' in litigation
Are these proposed costs in principle progressive of the litigation?
"Does an item of a specific type in a budget materially progress the case?".
If it does not, then it is not a budgetable or recoverable head of costs in principle.
Which phase?
JUDGE: MASTER VICTORIA MCCLOUD
HANDED DOWN 22nd June 2023