PI Brief Update

Costs in Infant Settlements - Tim Kevan

29/03/12. The Court of Appeal has taken a restrictive approach to costs in infant settlements both where the value is less than £1,000 and also in relation to counsel's fees. In Dockerill and Healey v Tullett and other cases [EWCA] Civ 184, all of the appeals involved claims by minors (by their litigation friends) to recover the costs of proceedings brought by them under CPR 21.10(2) for the approval of the compromise of their claims for damages for personal injuries. There were three main issues: 

• Whether costs should be calculated in accordance with the fixed costs regime under CPR 45 Part II or whether they are to be subject to a process of detailed assessment in accordance with CPR 44.5. 
• If detailed assessment is the appropriate regime then a further issue arises as to how such an assessment should be carried out where (as in these cases) the claim for damages did not exceed £1,000 and would ordinarily have been allocated to the small claims track.
• Whether the fees of counsel for attending the hearing of the Part 21.10(2) application at which the judge was asked to approve the settlement of the damages claim are properly recoverable as a disbursement under CPR 45.10(2)(c).

I will deal with each of these points in turn...

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