Matthew Waszak

Matt practises in all aspects of costs litigation and litigation funding. He regularly appears in the Senior Courts Costs Office and before Regional Costs Judges, as well as in appellate proceedings on points of appeal.

Reported Cases

• ST v ZY [2022] EWHC B6 (Costs)

• Nema v Kirkland [2019] EWHC B15 (Costs)

• Mitchell v Gilling-Smith [2017] EWHC B18 (Costs)

• Pollard v University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust [2017] 1 Costs 45

• Norman v Norman [2017] EWCA Civ 49; [2017] 1 WLR 2523; [2018] 1 All ER 769 (sole counsel in the Court of Appeal)

Other Selected Recent Cases

• Instructed by firm of solicitors in solicitor own client assessment in the SCCO of a £700,000 Bill of Costs.
• Instructed by firm of solicitors in solicitor own client assessment in the SCCO of a £950,000 Bill of Costs.
• Instructed to advise on the principle of costs and the subsequent costs order following an appeal in the Supreme Court.
• Acted for the claimant in contentious assessment proceedings under the Solicitors Act 1974 against their former solicitor in respect of the costs of divorce proceedings.
• Acted for receiving party in two-day between the parties detailed assessment in the SCCO, in which a significant portion of the paying party’s Points of Dispute were struck out/dismissed for their failure to comply with PD 47 and the Court of Appeal’s decision in Ainsworth v Stewarts Law LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 178.
• Instructed in numerous cases involving the construction and application of the fixed recoverable costs rules under section IIIA of CPR Part 45.
• Acted for receiving party in a four-day between the parties detailed assessment in the SCCO of a Bill of Costs arising from a mesothelioma claim.
• Acted for receiving party in three-day between the parties detailed assessment in the SCCO of £700,000 Bill of Costs arising from a catastrophic clinical negligence claim.
• Instructed to advise on and draft written submissions on the principle of costs in a commercial case following a five-day trial.
• Acted for the claimant in a dispute in the High Court concerning the liability for costs of work done to establish the reasonable security of a periodical payments order after the acceptance of a Part 36 offer in a catastrophic injury case.
• Acted for the defendant in an assessment of costs under the Solicitors Act 1974 where the claimant alleged that the defendant’s failure to provide an estimate of costs meant that the Bill should be assessed at nil. Challenge dismissed at preliminary issues hearing.
• Acted for defendant insurer in numerous cases involving the definition of clinical negligence cases and the scope of the MOJ Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury (Employers’ Liability and Public Liability Claims).
• Acted for various legal expenses insurers in cases involving challenges to block-rated ATE insurance products.
• Advising a public body on the costs implications of injunctive relief proceedings.
• Advising a claimant firm on the prospects of seeking an alternative costs order under CPR 38.6 following the discontinuance of a clinical negligence claim.