Mark Whalan (pictured) has been named as the newest costs judge at the Senior Courts Costs Office, with effect from 9 November 2015.
The 50-year-old barrister practises from 9 Gough Square Chambers and has been a fee-paid immigration judge since 2006.
According to his biography on the chambers’ website, Mr Whalan has “many years’ experience conducting costs cases at all levels to the House of Lords/Supreme Court for both paying and receiving parties.
“He is instructed in all types of cases, including complex CFA disputes, costs estimates, budgeting and capping, third-party costs orders and obtaining or opposing relief from sanctions, as well as high-value detailed assessments. He advises and appears in costs litigation throughout the UK. He is in constant demand as a national speaker at costs conferences and seminars.”
His notable costs cases are listed as:
• Foord v Aggregate Tippers Ltd (2013) – Third-party costs order in favour of a receiving party;
• Haydon v Strudwick [2010] EWHC 90164 (Costs) – Relief from sanctions in a very high-value assessment;
• Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd (2009) – Court of Appeal and House of Lords assessment where the issues included a trade union’s entitlement to a self-insured ‘premium’, assessed and allowed at over £120,000; and
• Leigh v Michelin Tyre PLC [2004] 1WLR 846, CA – the guideline authority in front of the Master of the Rolls on costs estimates.
Mr Whalan is predominantly a personal injury lawyer, representing both claimants and defendants. He specialises “in construction accidents, industrial protection (especially personal protective equipment), industrial disease (especially asbestos claims) and occupier’s liability and has a national reputation in complex, catastrophic and fatal road traffic accidents.
“For over 15 years, he has written and contributed to numerous books and publications on RTA liability. He also specialises in chronic pain litigation. He is also in demand in professional negligence claims involving personal injury.”
Mr Whalan was an editor of the Journal of Personal Injury Law from its inception and is the secretary of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers’ barrister group. An expert on motor insurance, he is a co-author of The Encyclopaedia of Insurance Law. He is also a co-author of Jordans’ APIL Personal Injury Law, Practice and Precedents.