2021-09-08 - A costs chat with friends - Prof Dominic Regan with Jeremy Morgan QC and Andy Ellis

Dominic Regan’s Twitter handle pays homage to a vintage champagne. He is a legal speaker, writer, broadcaster and trainer as well as a non-practising solicitor. He said during this session that he was honoured to be asked to take part in the Practico Virtual Roundtable series, but in truth, we were every bit as honoured to have Dominic share his thoughts and wisdom with us. We kick off with a look at the Civil Justice Council’s proposals for compulsory ADR. After a quick look at the difference between the original vision in relation to costs budgeting and current practice, the conversation moves on to Dominic’s favourite case of 2019 – Essex v UBB Waste. Dominic’s view is that the judgment of Mr Justice Pepperall contains many lessons for litigators, and Jeremy makes the point that the judgment is akin to a checklist for litigators to use once the outcome of a trial is known. It really is a judgment with something for everyone. Staying with the Part 36 theme, Dominic highlights the surprising situation that many claimants do not make Part 36 offers and Dominic and Jeremy look at the basket of benefits available to successful claimants who do. Dominic looks briefly at the new witness statement regime in the Business and Property Courts. His firm view is that there was nothing wrong with the original rules, the issue is that non-compliance has too long been tolerated. In trying to right that wrong, the rule makers got carried away and the resulting new system is massively elaborate. Dominic’s own alternative is, by contrast, strikingly simple. The new guideline hourly rates also receive a quick mention, in particular whether they signal a move towards a market basis for setting hourly rates in the future. The session finishes with an exchange of legal quotes which I hope will raise a smile. For links to all the case reports that are mentioned in