An appeal against a damages award in a defamation case had been unsuccessful. The claimant now appealed for the award of indemnity costs. The claimant had made an offer of compromise, which had been ignored by the defendant.
Held: If a party has made a real effort to find a reasonable solution for the circumstances, and the other party has resisted, then risks an order for indemnity costs. However the appellant had not pursued some grounds of appeal, and his behaviour was not such as to justify an indemnity award against him. While ‘conduct, albeit falling short of misconduct deserving of moral condemnation, can be so unreasonable as to justify an order for indemnity costs . . To my mind, however, such conduct would need to be unreasonable to a high degree; unreasonable in this context does not mean merely wrong or misguided in hindsight . .’
Simon Brown, Waller, Sedley LJJ
[2002] EWCA Civ 66, [2002] 1 WLR 2810, [2002] 2 All ER 242
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Petrotrade Inc v Texaco Ltd CA 23-May-2000
Where a defendant failed to beat a claimant’s part 36 offer to settle, but judgment was given summarily the rule did not mean that the defendant was necessarily to be ordered to pay costs on an indemnity basis, and to pay interest. Summary judgment . .
Cited – McPhilemy v Times Newspapers Ltd and Others CA 7-Jun-2000
The new civil procedure rules did not change the basic rules of evidence. The old rule prevented a party putting in evidence a witness statement which he knew conflicted substantially with the case he wished to place before the jury, and then be . .
Cited – Reid Minty (a firm) v Taylor CA 2002
New CPR govern Indemnity Costs awards
The defendant had successfully defended the main claim and now appealed against the refusal of an order for costs on an indemnity basis even though judge thought that the claimants had behaved unreasonably. He had said that some conduct deserving of . .
Cited by:
Cited – Ali Reza-Delta Transport Co Ltd v United Arab Shipping Co Sag CA 17-Jun-2003
The case had concluded. Offers of settlement had been made and the operative one included an offer on the interest payable. The court came to decide how the interest part of the offer was to be considered when assessing whether the judgment bettered . .
Cited – Simms and others v The Law Society CA 12-Jul-2005
The appellant challenged intervention proceedings brought against his solicitors practice by the respondent. Following disciplinary proceedings, the Society had obtained summary judgment rejecting the application, and awarding costs. The solicitor . .
Cited – Wates Construction Ltd v HGP Greentree Allchurch Evans Ltd TCC 10-Oct-2005
A unit constructed by the claimant had collapsed under a weight of rainwater. It had been constructed according to a design provided by the defendants. The claimants had discontinued the action on the morning of the trial, and the defendants now . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Costs
Leading Case
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.167919
