17 May 2012
Minkin v Cawdery Kaye Fireman & Taylor [2012] EWCA Civ 546, [2012] All ER (D) 35 (May)
Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Ward, Stanley Burnton and Elias LJJ, 1 May 2012
On the facts of the instant case, the client’s termination of the retainer absolved the solicitor from any further performance of the contract but it did not absolve the client from the payment of the costs properly incurred to that date.
Nicholas Bacon QC and Mark James (instructed by Routh Clarke, Leighton Buzzard) for the client. Bernard Livesey QC and Joshua Munro (instructed by Cawdery Kaye Fireman & Taylor) for the firm.
In June 2011, the claimant client provided instructions to the defendant law firm to act for him in divorce proceedings. The client’s wife had brought proceedings in the county court for a non-molestation injunction and an ouster order to exclude him from the former matrimonial home. The client was provided with a costs estimate in the amount of £3,500 plus VAT but was advised that costs estimates were not fixed or binding. The client was also provided with
