Media CAT Ltd v Adams & Ors [2011] EWPCC 10 (18 April 2011)

Media CAT Ltd v Adams & Ors [2011] EWPCC 10 (18 April 2011)

The court found a strong prima facie case that ACS:Law and Andrew Crossley entered into improper and champertous revenue sharing arrangements in breach of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct, and that the service of Notices of Discontinuance constituted unreasonable conduct and an abuse of process. These actions caused...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2011] EWPCC 10
Parties
Claimant: MEDIA C. A. T Limited; Defendant: Malcolm Adams; Defendant: Hooper; Defendant: Mitchell Chance; Defendant: Mark Jimack; Defendant: Miss Maria Shewan; Defendant: Sean Allen; Defendant: Christopher Beck; Defendant: Danny Cowan; Defendant: Glyn Bentley; Defendant: Pana Begum; Defendant: Peter Armitage; Defendant: Allan Billington; Defendant: James Bryant; Defendant: Julia Abbott; Defendant: Christopher Birkett; Defendant: M Brunt; Defendant: Gareth Bacon; Defendant: Wayne Bacon; Defendant: Michelle McGlade; Defendant: David Bick; Solicitor for the Claimant: ACS:Law and Andrew Crossley
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
18 April 2011
Procedural Posture
Copyright Infringement Claim / Post Trial, Costs and Wasted Costs Applications
Outcome
Stage one wasted costs order made against ACS:Law/Andrew Crossley limited to revenue sharing arrangements and service of Notices of Discontinuance; ACS:Law/Andrew Crossley to be joined as a party for the purposes of a third party costs order; all actions struck out; Media CAT to pay defendants' costs.
Legal Topics
Copyright Infringement, Wasted Costs, Champerty, Abuse of Process, Third Party Costs Orders, Solicitors' Code of Conduct, Conditional Fee Agreements
Intellectual Property Law Civil Procedure Legal Ethics Copyright Infringement Wasted Costs Champerty Abuse of Process Third Party Costs Orders +2 more

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Parties

MEDIA C. A. T Limited

Claimant

Malcolm Adams

Defendant

Hooper

Defendant

Mitchell Chance

Defendant

Mark Jimack

Defendant

Miss Maria Shewan

Defendant

Sean Allen

Defendant

Christopher Beck

Defendant

Danny Cowan

Defendant

Glyn Bentley

Defendant

Pana Begum

Defendant

Peter Armitage

Defendant

Allan Billington

Defendant

James Bryant

Defendant

Julia Abbott

Defendant

Christopher Birkett

Defendant

M Brunt

Defendant

Gareth Bacon

Defendant

Wayne Bacon

Defendant

Michelle McGlade

Defendant

David Bick

Defendant

ACS:Law and Andrew Crossley

Solicitor for the Claimant

Procedural Posture

Copyright Infringement Claim / Post Trial, Costs and Wasted Costs Applications

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether ACS:Law and/or Andrew Crossley should be subject to a wasted costs order for improper, unreasonable, or negligent conduct in the litigation.
  2. 2 Whether ACS:Law and/or Andrew Crossley should be joined as a party for the purposes of a third party costs order under s51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981.
  3. 3 Whether the revenue sharing agreements between Media CAT and ACS:Law were improper and champertous.

Ratio Decidendi

The court found a strong prima facie case that ACS:Law and Andrew Crossley entered into improper and champertous revenue sharing arrangements in breach of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct, and that the service of Notices of Discontinuance constituted unreasonable conduct and an abuse of process. These actions caused the defendants to incur unnecessary costs. The court made a stage one wasted costs order limited to these issues and found a good arguable case to join ACS:Law/Crossley as a party for a third party costs order. Other alleged misconduct did not satisfy the proportionality test for wasted costs.

Court Disposition

Stage one wasted costs order made against ACS:Law/Andrew Crossley limited to revenue sharing arrangements and service of Notices of Discontinuance; ACS:Law/Andrew Crossley to be joined as a party for the purposes of a third party costs order; all actions struck out; Media CAT to pay defendants' costs.

Orders

  • Actions struck out.
  • Media CAT to pay defendants' costs on an indemnity basis, scale costs provisions disapplied.