Nicholas Bacon KC KC > 4 New Square Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
4 New Square Chambers Offices
LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3RJ
England
Nicholas Bacon KC KC
Position
Nicholas Bacon is a leading silk in his specialised field of costs. He dominates this market with a hugely impressive bank of leading cases to his name.
2020/2021 has been no exception with two Supreme Court Cases: Ho v Adelekun [2021] UKSC 43 and Bott & Co Solicitors v. Ryanair [2019] EWCA Civ 143. Appearances in the Court of Appeal and High Court include: Belsner v Cam Legal Services Ltd [2020] EWHC 2755 (QB); Patourel v. BT Group PLC (CAT) [1381/7/7/21]; JSC Privatbank v. Kolomoisky Claim No: BL-2017-000665 £10 million pound costs claim involving use of new electronic bill of costs and requirements for compliance with rules, Part 18 requests in detailed assessments. VW Emissions class action [2018] EWHC 2308 (QB) (costs); Trucks Class Action (Competition Appeal Tribunal); Merricks v. Mastercard Cat 2019. Appellate cases include West v. Stockport NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWCA Civ 1220; Herbert v. HH Law Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 527; Budana v Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 1980 (the leading case on assignment of solicitors’ retainers), Gempride Ltd v. Jagrit Bamrah [2018] EWCA Civ 1367 (leading case on misconduct in costs claims); McMenemy v Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 1941 (recovery of ATE insurance in clinical negligence cases post Jackson); Hislop v. Perde [2018] EWCA Civ 1726 (Part 36 and late acceptance consequences in fixed costs cases).
Other Supreme Court instructions include: Coventry v. Lawrence (Bar Council) [2015] 1 WLR 3485; Wyatt v. Vince (costs) [2015] 1 WLR 1228; Marley v. Rawlings [2015] AC 157, [2014] UKSC 51.
Other significant Court of Appeal cases include Sharpe v. Leeds City Council [2017] EWCA Civ 33; Qader v. Esure Services [2016] EWCA Civ 1109; Ahmud & Co v. MacPherson [2015] EWHC 2240; O’Brien v. Michael Shorrock and MIB [2015] 4 Costs LO 439; Kanat Assaubayev v. Michael Wilson & Partners [2015] CP Rep 10; [2015] PNLR 8; News Group Newspapers in the seminal case of Mitchell v. NGN (“plebgate”) 2013 CA; Brown Quinn v. Equity Management, 2013 CA; Heron v. MTG, 2013 CA.
High profile clients include Berezovsky in respect of the multi million pound costs claim brought by Mr. Abromovic, Shell and BP Oil, and Newsgroup Newspapers in respect of the Voicemail Interception litigation. Nick was instructed to recover the costs in the failed Bernard Madoff Securities Int Ltd “Madoff” claim in 2014.
Career
Called 1992; Inner Temple; High Court assessor on costs appeals. Former Member of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee. Contributing editor to Halsburys ‘Laws of England’ (costs), Civil Courts Practice ‘Green Book’; Butterworths’ ‘Costs Service’ and ‘Civil Courts Precedents’; author of ‘Assessments of Costs under CPR’ (2001) and ‘Taxation and Assessment of Civil Costs’ (1998); co-author of ‘The Bar Handbook’ (2008-2014). Assessor to Lord Justice Jackson’s Review of Fixed Costs.
Languages
French (working knowledge).
Memberships
Civil Procedure Rules committee, various Jackson Implementation committees; Bar Council Remuneration committees; Joint Tribunal (Bar Council/Law Society) on fee disputes; Bar Council CFA Panel; PNBA.
Education
Boys’ High School, Colchester; Essex University (LLB Law).
Leisure
Yachting.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Costs and litigation funding
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Nicholas Bacon KC –4 New Square ‘Nick is a fountain of knowledge on costs. His advocacy is excellent and he is passionate about his clients and fights hard to win.’
‘Simply the best costs set in the country’, 4 New Square Chambers offers in-depth expertise at every level of call and across all aspects of costs and litigation funding, with particular areas of experience including wasted and non-party costs, funding arrangements, security for costs applications, and non-contentious advisory work. Nicholas Bacon KC, Robert Marven KC, Simon Teasdale and Stephen Innes all acted in Diag Human v Volterra Fietta, with this significant case about whether severance is available to save an otherwise enforceable conditional fee agreement heading from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. In Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust v Luke Hoskin, Benjamin Williams KC, Roger Mallalieu KC and Pippa Manby appeared in a case which now progresses to the Court of Appeal to clarify the principle concerning recoverability of agency fees in personal injury claims. Marven KC also appeared on the opposite side to Mallalieu KC and Teasdale in Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP v Kenig, a Court of Appeal case concerning if a beneficiary to a will can later challenge solicitors’ costs even though they have been agreed and paid by the executor.
London Bar > Professional disciplinary and regulatory law
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Nicholas Bacon KC –4 New Square ‘A very user-friendly silk, who provides considered, careful advice which takes account not only of the strict letter of the law but also the commercial reality of a situation.’
4 New Square garners praise from clients for its ‘significant strength in-depth in the professional discipline field‘. Graeme McPherson KC is a highly regarded practitioner in the space, with an established track record in representing solicitors, barristers, auditors, financial professionals and accountants in disciplinary proceedings. In recent instructions for the group, Nicholas Bacon KC successfully acted for the defendants in the High Court in Mackenzie v Rosenblatt Solicitors & Anor, a case involving allegations of breach of duty and negligence on the part of the law firm for allegedly failing to advise the claimant that his claim for unlawful conspiracy against his former employer had no real prospect of success. Among the juniors, the ‘strong advocate‘ Scott Allen is well versed in advising on disciplinary proceedings involving accountants and solicitors.