To pay for legal fees in the region of £500,000 it could have avoided! RSPCA punished for refusing to mediate. This case received a lot of coverage in the press. The Claimant, Dr Gill, successfully challenged the will of her late mother which had left the family farm to the RSPCA. She succeeded on the grounds of undue influence which is a probate claim. In this type of claim there are two exceptions to the usual rule that the losing party pays the successful party's costs. The RSPCA asked the court to apply one of the exceptions so that Dr Gill's costs of this aspect of the claim would be paid by the estate rather than the RSPCA. The court refused and ordered the RSPCA to pay Dr Gill's costs. The court then considered whether or not those costs - and the claimant's costs relating to the other cause of action should be paid by the RSPCA on the standard or indemnity basis. The Court considered the conduct of the RSPCA throughout the litigation, as it is required to do and concluded, 1. that the Claimant made repeated attempts to resolve the claim through mediation but the Defendant was resolute in its opposition to mediation. 2. The attitude adopted by the RSPCA was inconsistent with Court's expectation of a willingness to participate in a well established procedure. 3. The Defendant's attitude was unreasonable and out of step with the underlying spirit of modern procedure. For these reasons the Court ordered the RSPCA to pay indemnity costs on the Claimant's two successful causes of action. The judge went on to order an interim payment of £100,000 costs be paid - the Claimant was seeking an interim payment of £400,000! Philip Hesketh Mediator www.nwmediationsolutions.co.uk
I’ve been in legal administration for over 35 years – I know how things work, and appreciate the benefits of mediation as an essential tool to consider when in dispute. I can discuss its benefits to…
