In Monex Europe Limited v Pothecary and Kaufman [2019] EWHC 2204 (QB), following the refusal of an application for an injunction against the Defendants, costs against the Claimant fell to be summarily assessed. The Defendants’ costs, of c. £85k, were nearly twice that of the Claimant, of c. £44k. The Claimant, claiming to have borne the burden of the application, said that, as compared with their own, the Defendants’ costs were unreasonably high.

The Judge rejected the comparison approach: “it is not appropriate for the Court simply to compare the two sets of costs and say that the Defendants’ costs were disproportionate because they were greater, or that elements of them were greater, than that of the Claimant. It is necessary to look at the specific items for which costs are claimed”.

The Claimant was ordered to pay £74k (87% of the claimed costs) to the Defendants.