Bullock v London General Omnibus Company: 1907

An order was made for the payment of the successful defendants’ costs, but with liberty to the plaintiff to include those costs in the costs of the action recoverable by the plaintiff from the unsuccessful defendant. The plaintiff had been unable before litigation to assess which of the defendants might be liable. In some circumstances it will be just for a successful plaintiff who has sued two (or more) defendants to be indemnified by the unsuccessful defendant for the costs he or she incurred in proceeding against the successful defendant. This may be a just outcome where the allocation responsibility between the potential defendants is uncertain, making it a reasonable course for the plaintiff to proceed through to trial against more than one defendant.

Citations:

[1907] 1 KB 264, [1904-7] All ER 44

Cited by:

CitedDavies v Forrett and Others QBD 23-Jun-2015
The claimant had been very severely injured as a passenger in a car (uninsured) which had attempted an overtaking manouvre past three cars. One pulled out, and the car in which he was a passenger swerved off the road and crashed. Damages were now . .
CitedIrvine v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, Carillion Plc, Town and Country Flooring Limited CA 3-Feb-2005
Peter Gibson LJ said: ‘There is no doubt that the jurisdiction to make a Bullock or Sanderson order has survived the introduction of the CPR, though the exercise of discretion to make such an order must be guided by the overriding objective and the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Costs

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.223843