In Various Claimants v Giambrone & AIG [2019] EWHC 34 (QB), Shantanu Majumdar of Radcliffe Chambers (instructed jointly by Edwin Coe and Penningtons Manches) has secured an order from Mr Justice Foskett holding liability insurers liable under s 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 (non-party costs) for half of the claimants’ costs (at first instance) in suing Giambrone and other defendants for professional negligence. AIG had funded their insureds’ defence under an agreement made outside the insurance policy – knowing that it was unlikely to succeed – and then ceded control of the defence to the defendants, who then conducted it unreasonably.
