Dispute Resolution Update: Solicitors Pay For Waste And Delay

In two recent cases, the Supreme Court imposed costs on solicitors for wasting court time. These orders indicate that the judiciary is actively taking steps to penalise lawyers personally for acts and omissions that prevent the courts from dealing with litigation efficiently - whether that failure results from unstateable pleas, or failure to adhere to court rules and practice directions.

The courts have long had jurisdiction to penalise lawyers for wasting court time. In Mylard v Weldon, 15961, the court not only made a wasted costs order against a lawyer whose pleadings were too long, but ordered that he be paraded around the courts barefoot with the pleadings hung around his neck.

While the more colourful aspect of that jurisdiction has probably withered, the courts retain the power to make solicitors personally liable for wasted costs, even if they have rarely made such orders. Two recent decisions suggest a change of approach.

The Impetus for Change

Talbot v Hermitage Golf Club2...