Hear it from the
Judges Conference
9 December 2014
6 CPD Hours
9 December 2014
Central London
Fees: £415 + VAT CLT Members/ £525 + VAT Non-Members
Civil litigators operate in an increasingly changing environment where
the effects of the Jackson Reforms of April 2013 are still being understood.
Reduction in public funding and financial pressures mean that lawyers are
increasingly encountering litigants in person with the concern that they are
being meted out special treatment. The introduction of the single County
Court and financial pressures means that time in the court is at a premium.
The effective litigator will focus on the issues and present properly prepared
cases that can be accommodated within the time estimates.
This conference gives an unparalleled opportunity to examine the judicial
perspective and how the civil litigator can best fashion and present a case
to maximum effect. It also presents an update on the issues and law which
the judiciary consider to be important to their daily caseload. Presented by
some of the leading district judges who are responsible for the rules and
for the education of the judiciary, this conference gives the civil litigator
an opportunity to reflect on their practice and how to improve their
communication with the bench.
Chair
District Judge Chris Lethem was appointed to the bench in 1998 and sits
as a regional costs judge in Tunbridge Wells. He is a member of the Civil
Procedure Rule Committee, the Hickinbottom Committee on Litigants in
Person and various other committees associated with the implementation of
the Jackson Reforms and also with litigants in person. He is a member of the
civil law team at the Judicial College and responsible for educating judges
in costs and costs management. He has written extensively on the issue of
costs in various periodicals including the JPIL, Solicitors Journal, Law Society
Gazette and Family Law. He is a former contributor responsible for costs in
Blackstones Civil Practice and is a contributor to Butterworths Costs Service and
Mithani’s Directors Disqualification.
Speakers
Gordon Ashton OBE - retired District Judge nominated for Court of
Protection; solicitor in general legal practice 1967-1992. Books include
Mental Handicap and the Law, Elderly Client Handbook, Elderly People and
the Law and Court of Protection Practice. Honoured for “Services to the
Administration of Justice and to Disabled People”.
District Judge Ian Besford is a district judge on the NE Circuit, sitting
predominantly at Hull. Prior to his appointment in 1999, he was a partner
in a general practice in the North East. He has had a keen interest in costs
since the early 1980’s having been principal in a cost drafting firm in the
North West. Ian was appointed as a regional costs judge for the North East in
November 2005 and is a regular speaker on the issue of contentious costs.
District Judge Suzanne Burn is a district judge at Bromley County Court.
Previously a senior litigation solicitor, and Secretary to the Law Society’s
Civil Litigation Committee 1994-9, she has run training courses for lawyers
and expert witnesses and spoken at conferences for 20 years, and now
trains judges for the Judicial College. She contributes to the White Book and
Law Society Gazette. She is the author of Expert Evidence (Shaws 2005), and
editor of the Law Society’s Civil Litigation Handbook (2nd ed 2007). Suzanne
was a member of the Civil Justice Council from 2001-7 and chaired the
serious injury committee for the last 2 years. She was a member of the Civil
Procedure Rules Committee from 2007-13, and is currently completing a
project for CPRC on updating all the pre-action protocols.
District Judge Ranj Matharu LLB Hons and LLM sits at Manchester Civil
Justice Centre. She is a specialist Chancery District Judge and nominated
Judge of the Court of Protection. She is Judicial College tutor. Prior to
appointment she was a partner practising in commercial litigation and a
solicitor advocate.
District Judge Richard Matthews is a district judge and regional costs judge
at the Oxford Combined Court Centre. Qualified as a solicitor in 1976, he
was appointed Deputy District Judge in 1988 and full time District Judge
in 1993. He has been a regional costs judge since 2005 and a tutor with the
civil team of the Judicial College.
9.00
9.30 Chair’s Welcome and Introduction
District Judge Chris Lethem, Regional Costs Judge,
Tunbridge Wells
9.45 Relief from Sanctions: How to
Stay on the Right Side of the Judge
Is this a relief case? | The inter-relationship with CPR
3.1(7) and applications to set aside | Trivial breaches
and good reason | When will other factors be
decisive? | The jurisprudence – where are we
now? | Effective performance on the application.
District Judge Chris Lethem, Regional Costs Judge,
Tunbridge Wells
10.15 Costs Management:
Preparation and the Hearing
When budgets are necessary | Filing and serving
on time | Reaching agreement | Common failings
with completing precedent | Attending the CCMC
and drawing the order | Applications to vary.
District Judge Suzanne Burn, Bromley County Court
11.00 Refreshments
11.15 Guidance on the Assessment of
Costs – Getting the Most Out of Costs
Tips and traps on preparing bills for assessments
| Points of objections and replies – make them
count! | What if it all goes wrong?!
District Judge Ian Besford, Regional Costs Judge,
Hull County Court
12.00 Part 36 – Common Errors
and Developments
How to get the technicalities right | When
to use Part 36 as against to general
offers | Update on case law.
District Judge Ian Besford, Regional Costs Judge,
Hull County Court
12.45 Summary Judgment
What is required | It’s effectiveness | The effect of
such an application on Form’s H.
District Judge Ranj Matharu, Manchester Civil Justice
1.15 Lunch
2.15 A Case Law Update: The Most
Important Cases Through the Judicial Eyes
Is the guidance in Mitchell still relevant? | Post
Denton – relief from sanctions – will satellite
litigation be reduced? | Mediation – consequences
of failure to engage | Costs – problems with asking
judge to rule on costs alone | Service of Claim
Form and extension of time for service.
District Judge Richard Matthews, Regional Costs Judge,
Oxford Combined Court
3.00 Refreshments
3.15 Litigants in Person: A Judical
Perspective and How to Prepare Your
Clients
The judicial response to date | McKenzie
Friends | The inter-relationship between
Litigants in Person and Jackson | Effective judicial
responses to Litigants in Person | Preparing the client.
District Judge Chris Lethem, Regional Costs Judge,
Tunbridge Wells
Please quote reference CF115287 at point of booking.
An unparalleled
opportunity
to examine the
judicial perspective
and how you can
best fashion and
present a case to
maximum effect
4.00 Identifying and Coping with
Protected Parties in the Civil and
Family Courts
Who are protected parties? | Resolving doubts
as to capacity | The appointment of a litigation
friend | Powers of the litigation friend | The
different Court Rules and proposed reform.
Gordon R Ashton OBE, Retired District Judge and
Nominated Judge of the Court of Protection
4.45 Chair’s Concluding Remarks
and Questions
5.00
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