A judgment in a costs case, Falcon Trident Shipping Ltd v Levant Shipping Ltd [2021] EWHC 2204 (Comm) found that a settlement agreement finalised after acceptance of a Part 36 offer took precedence over the provisions of Part 36.
This is perhaps not surprising but nonetheless clears up any questions as to whether a settlement agreement would supersede a part 36 offer which had already been accepted.
The judge also commented that:
“By the time the matter came to trial the sum in dispute was USD 60,000. The legal costs generated by these proceedings must have greatly exceeded this. The parties told the court that alternative dispute resolution was not appropriate such that a High Court trial was required. Common sense and proportionality would suggest otherwise for a costs dispute of this size.”
The message again from the Court is to act proportionately and try to resolve low value disputes through ADR including mediation.