KB-2023-003483 - [2025] EWHC 1799 (KB)

On 2 May 2025, the Claimants served their Notice of Discontinuance in respect of their claim against D3.

On 7 May 2025, I gave directions for the determination of the costs issues between the Claimants and D3. These permitted the Claimants to file (i) written submissions, limited to 3 pages, responding to D3’s submissions on costs; and (ii) a response to D3’s schedule of costs, by 4.30 pm on 23 May 2025.

The Claimants served Mr Stacey’s submissions in compliance with (i); and not one but two documents under (ii) (those at pp.70 and 842 of the hearing bundle). However, despite the directions that had been given, and a further email from my clerk confirming that no further documents were required for the hearing, the Claimants also filed a chronology, a case summary, an “issues” document, a list of essential reading, and a fourteenth witness statement from C1 dated 1 June 2025 supported by XW/14, which ran to over 350 pages. XW/14 included a document entitled “poster information disclosed by the third defendant”. Despite their titles, to varying degrees these documents all contained further submissions on costs and did so slightly differently to the way in which Mr Stacey had advanced matters. The Claimants insisted on these documents being included in the bundle for the hearing, to which D3 objected.

I considered it necessary for me to skim read all these documents on a de bene esse basis in preparation for the hearing. I queried the position at the start of the hearing and gave Mr Stacey time to take instructions. Having done so he confirmed that the Claimants only sought to rely on the chronology and XW/14 (although that would also necessitate reliance on the fourteenth witness statement from C1 dated 1 June 2025, which exhibited XW/14). While I fully understand how strongly the Claimants feel about the costs issues, this was, again, unhelpful conduct of the sort described at [45] above, which led to a further waste of court resources and potentially D3’s costs.

The parties’ submissions revolved around the following themes.