Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v McMenemy and Nottingham University Hospitals Foundation Trust v Reynolds [2017] EWCA Civ 1941
There has been a recent landmark ruling around the problem lawyers have been experiencing even since the Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into force.
The problem is, “How to finance After The Event Insurance if it is not recoverable from your opponent?”
It is all very well having a “No Win No Fee” regime in place that means the client does not have to cashflow your legal fees, but what about the cost of having to find the money to take out insurance against paying the other side’s legal bill?” Before April 2013 you could recover this from your opponent as part of your legal costs when you won your case, but after this time it became non-recoverable. This case asserts that, in clinical negligence cases, after the event insurance premiums can be recovered from your opponent if you win.
The case is reviewed by the Law Society Gazette and The New Law Journal here: