Where a plaintiff discontinued his action, but still sought costs from the defendant, he had to show some misconduct by the defendant, such as encouraging the action by concealment of a defence. A mere late amendment causing no loss was not enough.
Potter LJ said: ‘I approach this case on the basis that, where discontinuance occurs in circumstances tantamount to an acknowledgement of defeat, then the normal rule as to costs, namely that the defendant is entitled to an order for his costs of the action, should apply unless good reason can be shown to the contrary. The nature of that good reason will vary according to the form of order which the plaintiff seeks. The alternative forms are of course ‘no order as to costs’ or, more rarely, an order that the defendant pay the plaintiff’s costs in respect of a particular issue or issues, or a particular period of time, in respect of which costs have been wasted or unnecessarily incurred as a result of the defendant’s conduct of the proceedings.’
Judges:
Potter LJ
Citations:
Times 26-Nov-1998, [1998] EWCA Civ 1638, [1999] 1 All ER 532
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – In Re A Firm of Solicitors ChD 9-May-1995
A solicitor moving from a firm acting on one side of a dispute to the firm on the other side must be able to show that no conflict of interest would arise. The court should intervene unless it is satisfied that there is no risk of disclosure. It . .
Cited by:
Cited – Davies v Davies CA 4-Mar-1999
The marriage was unhappy. The wife consulted briefly but did not instruct a solicitor, Mr Tooth. Some 7 years later as divorce proceedings were considered, the husband did instruct Mr Tooth. She sought to prevent him acting, but then wanted to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Costs
Updated: 27 November 2022; Ref: scu.88910