Court of Appeal judgment relating to costs of split trials: Anna Lintner appears for successful Respondent

News Anna Lintner 29th November 2021

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Re. The Stratos Club, Langer v McKeown [2021] EWCA Civ 1792. The appeal dealt with a point of costs law that had not previously been considered by the Court of Appeal, namely whether the existence of an undisclosed global without prejudice save as to costs (WPSATC) offer in split trial proceedings – in this case an unfair prejudice petition pursuant to s.994 Companies Act 2006 – required the Court to reserve the costs of the liability stage until the conclusion of proceedings when the WPSATC offer could be considered by the Court. The Appellant contended that, by analogy with CPR Part 36, the Court is required to reserve costs in such circumstances because not to do so would risk injustice to the paying party. The Court of Appeal rejected this argument and held that CPR Part 44.2 permits the Court to make an immediate costs order following the first stage of a split trial, notwithstanding the existence of an undisclosed global WPSATC offer.

Anna Lintner appeared unled for the successful Respondent to the appeal and for the successful Petitioner below, instructed by Russells.

The full Judgment is available here.

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Anna Lintner