A case of ‘rough justice’ which was upheld by the Court of Appeal could act as a warning as to how disputes over modest sums will be handled by the courts in future, according to a leading construction solicitor.
The case in question (Sykes v Packham) was contested by a specialist heating and plumbing engineer seeking payment from an individual for work completed.
The judge at the trial took a swift and robust approach to the dispute.
Although the engineer had not provided the required details and documents to support his case, the judge nevertheless decided to impose his own assessment of the profit and costs the engineer was entitled to, despite the absence of any evidence as to what that profit should be.
This was done in order to deal with the case quickly and cost effectively – as opposed to the typical course of action which would see the judge order the engineer to go away and amend his claim. The judge decided that was not appropriate for such a modest case.
The judge openly acknowledged that his actions may result in some “rough justice”, but felt that dealing with the case expeditiously justified this.
The individual who commissioned the work subsequently took the matter to the Court of Appeal where the approach taken by the court to the management of the case was upheld.
Stuart Thwaites, associate in Midland law firm Wright Hassall’s construction team, believes this example of ‘rough justice’ might result in an increase in the number of disputes over modest sums that are taken to the courts.
He said: “There is a lot of discussion within the construction industry as to whether it is worth pursuing cases which do not involve large sums of money through adjudication because of the irrecoverable costs incurred.
“Equally some smaller contractors have been discouraged from going to court instead because of concerns over costs and the time it takes to resolve cases.
“However this Court of Appeal case sends a clear message that the courts will take a robust and cost effective approach to disputes of modest value.
“This will be welcome news to those small and medium sized contractors and consultants who in the past have been put off pursuing modest claims through the courts because of concerns over time and costs.
“Hopefully the case will alert more people to the fact that they can now take action to recover monies owed to them, in the knowledge that the courts will take a cost effective and robust approach to resolving their claim.”
