Costs

Digital informality meets hard-edged costs law. In this week's NLJ, David Bailey-Vella, chair of the Association of Costs Lawyers and legal director at Pogust Goodhead, examines MacInnes v DWF Law LLP, in which the Senior Courts Costs Office held that if a firm bills for WhatsApp work, those messages form part of the ‘file’—even if stored on personal devices

David Bailey-Vella weighs up WhatsApp, ‘the file’, & the modern realities of costs disclosure

From cat fouling to Part 36 brinkmanship, the latest 'Civil way' round-up is a reminder that procedural skirmishes can have sharp teeth. NLJ columnist Stephen Gold ranges across recent decisions with his customary wit

Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’

Volunteer workers, capability dismissals, & costs decisions with a sting in the tail: Ian Smith combs through the latest employment headlines

Refusing ADR is risky—but not always fatal. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed and Sanjay Dave Singh of the University of Leicester analyse Assensus Ltd v Wirsol Energy Ltd: despite repeated invitations to mediate, the defendant stood firm, made a £100,000 Part 36 offer and was ultimately ‘wholly vindicated’ at trial

What are the costs penalties when a defendant won’t mediate? Masood Ahmed & Sanjay Dave Singh consider the case law

Who’s coming, who’s going, & what cases are worth watching? Dominic Regan reports from the legal frontlines