In his second update of this special series, Dominic Regan serves up a cut out & keep Q&A to Part 36 & its problems & solutions
- How high can I pitch my offer to settle?
- Am I under a duty to flag up defects in an offer?
- How best can I ensure my offer is compliant and thus effective?
My last column concentrated upon the sunlit uplands of Part 36 (see ‘Regan’s costs crammer (Pt 1)’, NLJ, 28 October 2022, p12). Things are never straightforward though, and some troublesome issues can arise. Here are some of them with suggested solutions where possible.
How high to go?
In AB v CD [2011] EWHC 602 (Ch), [2011] All ER (D) 25 (Apr), Henderson J at [22] stated that an offer which was all take and no give would not be regarded as a valid offer to settle. The 2015 Rule amendments inserted at CPR 36.17(5)(e) an obligation for the court to determine ‘whether the offer was a genuine attempt to settle the proceedings’. This measure
