Cases

Henry v BBC

Facts

The Claimant brought a libel action against the BBC in respect of a short news item broadcast as part of a local news programme, Points West. The Claimant's lawyers act under a CFA with ATE insurance in place. The percentage uplift was likely to be 100%. Allocation questionnaires estimated the BBC's costs to be £290,000 to end of trial; the Claimant's £360,000. The Claimant's estimate excluded any cost of the success fee, VAT or ATE insurance. The limit of the ATE indemnity was £100,000. The Defendant made an application for a costs capping order. Some three weeks after making the application, by the time of the PTR, the Claimant re-estimated its costs to trial as £694,000 before uplift, VAT or ATE costs (D's estimate having risen to £515,000). Total potential exposure for the Defendant was therefore of the order of £1.6 million (subject to assessment). The Claimant argued that the lateness of the application rendered a cap (at this stage) unfair.

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