Morris & Others v Williams & Co Solicitors (a firm)

The Court of Appeal has given guidance on the circumstances in which a group of claimants can together issue one claim form.

Jennifer Meech, led by Simon Johnson (Enterprise Chambers), acted for the successful respondents in this important case for group litigation (Morris and others v Williams & Co Solicitors (a firm) [2024] EWCA Civ 376).

The claimants are 134 individuals and companies who each claim damages against their former solicitors for professional negligence. They together issued a single claim form. The defendants sought to strike out the claim arguing that on a proper construction of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (“CPR”) it was only permissible for one claimant, or joint claimants pursuing the same cause of action, to use one claim form.

The Court of Appeal (the Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Lewison and Lady Justice Falk) rejected that argument as had His Honour Judge Jarman KC (sitting as a High Court Judge) at first instance.

The relevant rules are CPR r.19.1 which provides“[a]ny number of claimants or defendants may be joined as parties to a claim” r.7.3 which provides “[a] claimant may use a single claim form to start all claims which can be conveniently disposed of in the same proceedings”

In the leading judgment the Master of the Rolls considered the Rules of the Supreme Court from 1893 onwards, the history of group litigation, and the Woolf Report before concluding (at [63]):

19.1 and 7.3 mean what they say. Any number of claimants or defendants may be joined as parties to proceedings, and claimants may use a single claim form to start all claims which can be conveniently disposed of in the same proceedings. The court will determine what is convenient according to the facts of every case. There is no test beyond the words of rule 7.3, even if it is clear that cases within the old O15 r4 and cases where common issues will bind all the claimants will obviously be capable of being conveniently disposed of in the same proceedings.

Jennifer and Simon were instructed by David Niven and Nicole Blakey of Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP.

The full judgment can be found here.