The Wasted Costs Jurisdiction: A Review

Following Ridehalgh v Horsefield (1994), the court will make a wasted costs order against a solicitor or barrister in civil proceedings if it can be shown that: the legal representative has acted improperly, unreasonably or negligently; his conduct has caused a party to incur unnecessary costs; or it is just in all the circumstances to order him to compensate the party for the whole or part of those costs.

This three-stage test is now incorporated in the Practice Direction to Part 48 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The court has a discretion to make a wasted costs order, but it will not make such an order unless it considers that all three parts of the test have been met.