Privacy and Injunctions - Evidence - Parliament

Alex Hall and Charlotte Harris, partner, Mishcon de Reya solicitors, and solicitor to Alex
Hall—Oral evidence (QQ 1629–1731)
Q1680 Mr Bradshaw: Has Clarkson paid all your costs?
Charlotte Harris: I am in the middle of that.
Q1681 Mr Bradshaw: You are in the middle of negotiating that, are you?
Charlotte Harris: It is not quite resolved, but part of it will be that the costs will be
paid on this basis. If the person who has taken out the injunction says, “I’m just going to
abandon this” the normal rule would be that they would pay the costs, but obviously that
does not mean that you are in a position where you recover—or should recover—every
penny.
When you are on a no win, no fee, for instance—I am now talking generally; I’m not
talking specifically about Alex’s case, but just by way of example—there will be some very
good questions about what the appropriate uplift should be. Even where you have come on
record and done a no win, no fee for a defendant in Alex’s position, and even if your CFA
agreement says—again I’m speaking generally, not about Alex—you ought to have a 100%
uplift, a court may well say, “You were bound to win that.”
In the case of defendants, I don’t think in recent times they are ever bound to be able
to defend an injunction. The general rule has been that where the no win, no fee has been
too high is where you have a claimant. A claimant says, “Right. I’m going to go on a no win,
no fee and get an injunction.” There was certainty, really—not total certainty, but an
expectation—that you would be able to get this injunction granted at least in the interim. If
those injunctions don’t go to court and just fade away or are left there, it causes difficulty.
In terms of your funding, Alex, you were in a position where funds were low. We
did go on no win, no fee on it, and it was likely that we would have a problem, certainly in
terms of the nature of the information or the other aspects that we have talked about. So
when the case has come to an end, you have to have a sensible, un-abusive, un-exploitative
discussion with the other side and try and get it right.
Q1682 Ms Stuart: This question is for Alex Hall. Did you at any stage consider
simply not proceeding because you could not afford it? Was there a time when you said, “I
can’t do anything because of the financial situation”?
Alex Hall: If I hadn’t found Charlotte, I would not have been able to afford it. In the
first week when I was using my divorce lawyer, who took it on at cost—I think £10,000—I
had to go in with a £5,000 cheque, which I had to borrow. That terrified me because I
thought, “I just don’t have that money, so I can’t fight it.”
Q1683 Mr Bradshaw: Can you get that money back from Clarkson?
Alex Hall: I don’t know; I am going to try.
Charlotte Harris: I am doing my best.
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