Residential building disputes: Reform

In a previous post, I referred to my recent instruction representing the Defendant in a hard-fought five-day trial in Manchester (before HHJ Stephen Davies) featuring five fact witnesses, eight expert witnesses, and many thousands of documents.

What made the case remarkable was its relatively low value and the disproportionate legal costs incurred. While the nature and resourcing of the trial would be consistent with a multi-million-pound dispute, in fact the Claimant had sued for only some £60,000 for unpaid invoices, and the Defendant had elected against bringing a counterclaim. In these circumstances, the combined cost budgets were for many multiples of the claim value and inevitably understated – by a wide margin – the actual costs incurred by the parties.

You can read the full post on our Commercial, Construction & International Arbitration Blog here.