Costs, Actually: A Recap On Offers To Settle

Hugh Grant has put civil costs on the public radar, in his latest thread on X (formerly Twitter) (via: @HackedOffHugh), concerning the settlement of his privacy claim against The Sun. In one out of a series of posts from the thread on April 17th 2024, Grant wrote, "I don't want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court," and he goes on to write in a subsequent post in the thread: "But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides."

Not all offers to settle are Part 36 offers, and whilst we don't know the exact (or any) terms of the settlement being referred to here, it has certainly been an interesting conversation starter on the costs consequences of settlement offers, and in particular, the quagmire that is Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules ("CPR").