Dan Edwards successfully obtains Anticipatory / Predictive Costs Order in the High Court.

In high value clinical negligence and personal injury claims where liability has been admitted, there are likely to be substantial delays before quantum can be determined by the court.  In such circumstances Costs Orders (often misleadingly described as being ‘an interim payment on account of costs’) can be sought by the Claimant’s lawyers, even though the case has not been concluded.

The discretion conferred by section 51 of Senior Courts Act 1981 and expressed in CPR 44 (1) & (2) is wide, and the meaning of ‘successful party’ or ‘unsuccessful party’ is not confined to a binary outcome of the whole case.  The orders sought are more properly described as ‘Anticipatory’ or ‘Predictive’ Orders for Costs, as they are drawn only to the date of the hearing of the application, and prior to any formal determination of the claim as a whole.

On 7^th November 2023 Dan Edwards represented the Claimant in such an application before the Kings Bench Division (Sheffield District Registry).  The application was resisted.  The Court was satisfied that the guidance given by Master Cook in RXK (a child) v Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 2751 (QB) had been followed, and the quantum of the Anticipatory Costs Order sought was appropriate following Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd v Sarens (UK) Ltd [2018] EWHC 827 (TCC).

Should you wish to instruct Dan or any member of the Clinical Neglicence and/or the Personal Injury team, please contact one of the experienced civil clerks here