IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE
COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Mr Justice Mackay
Master O'Hare
07/P8/1251
(2008) EWHC 1831 (QB)
A2/2008/2033
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
23 February 2010
Leading environmental lawyer Richard Buxton has said he is likely to appeal against a High Court ruling that he was wrong to stop representing a client who rejected his advice.
Buxton incurred the wrath of Lords Hoffman and Hope earlier this year, who accused him of abusing the procedure of the House of Lords (see "SJ News" April 22 2008).
This time the High Court was more sympathetic. Giving judgment in Buxton v Mills-Owens [2008] EWHC 1831 (QB), Mr Justice Mackay said:
As the solicitors in Buxton v. Mills-Owens [2010] EWCA Civ 122 who stood to lose all profit costs, the Court of Appeal's decision that we terminated our retainer with our erstwhile client Mr Mills-Owens with good reason was a relief. We had been instructed to put points to the Court which were in an administrative law context unarguable, and we and counsel had declined to do so.
