Squire Patton Boggs' litigators are hiding under their desks in shame after a High Court Judge accused them of "deliberately manipulating" a client's costs budget. And knocked £5m off it. Ouch.
The firm was acting for CIP Properties, the claimant in what Coulson J described as a "relatively standard" £18m construction dispute. Coulson J pointed out that in February last year the claimant's estimated total costs were just under £3.5m. Since then "very little has happened", but the claimants had submitted a costs budget of £9.2m.
The judge was incredulous. He pointed out that this was more than twice the budget submitted by the defendants, whom he said would be doing most of the work, and that it was entirely disproportionate. He said "given the deliberate absence of any explanation for the huge increase in the costs incurred and estimated, and the Schedule of Assumptions which can only be designed to give the claimant's legal team the maximum room for manoeuvre later on, I am driven to conclude that the claimant's costs budget has been deliberately manipulated".
Coulson J cut the budget from £9.2m to £4.28m and sent Squire Patton Boggs away with a boot up its collective arse.
No one from the firm would return calls for comment.
Tip Off ROF
The firm was acting for CIP Properties, the claimant in what Coulson J described as a "relatively standard" £18m construction dispute. Coulson J pointed out that in February last year the claimant's estimated total costs were just under £3.5m. Since then "very little has happened", but the claimants had submitted a costs budget of £9.2m.
The judge was incredulous. He pointed out that this was more than twice the budget submitted by the defendants, whom he said would be doing most of the work, and that it was entirely disproportionate. He said "given the deliberate absence of any explanation for the huge increase in the costs incurred and estimated, and the Schedule of Assumptions which can only be designed to give the claimant's legal team the maximum room for manoeuvre later on, I am driven to conclude that the claimant's costs budget has been deliberately manipulated".
Some deliberate manipulation yesterday |
Coulson J cut the budget from £9.2m to £4.28m and sent Squire Patton Boggs away with a boot up its collective arse.
No one from the firm would return calls for comment.
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