An unsuccessful plaintiff in family provision proceedings who fails to make any settlement offer despite judicial encouragement, and who maintains an ambit claim until hearing, will be ordered to pay costs. The court will cap recoverable costs where solicitor's fees appear disproportionate to the scope of the case, applying a discount of approximately 30% from solicitor/client to party/party costs. A no win/no fee arrangement is relevant to assessing whether a costs order would adversely affect the plaintiff's financial position.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 3 later cases that cite this judgment.