Costs Order Made Against Law Firm

Tue, 16 Jun 2009

A law firm has been ordered to pay £390 in legal costs after claiming their solicitor was unable to attend his employment tribunal due to the swine flu outbreak. Pedro Okoro of Pedro Emmanuel Solicitors in Sutton, Surrey, had been due to represent Kabiru Atta, who was accusing Dell Corporation of unfair dismissal and racial discrimination . Dell Corporation had argued the claim had no reasonable prospect of success, prompting the scheduling of a pre-hearing review set to be held to determine the matter on May 7th.

However, Pedro Emmanuel Solicitors sent a letter to the tribunal just one day before the hearing, informing them that lawyer Mr Okoro ‘has caught a cold and believes the airlines will not allow him to fly because of his constant sneezing, obviously owing to the current problems with swine flu’. The letter did not arrive until after the close of business, and after Dell’s counsel had arrived for the hearing.

Tribunal judge Paul Cape has since rejected the explanation for Mr Okoro’s absence, ordering Pedro Emmanuel Solicitors to pay Dell’s legal fees of £390. Meanwhile, the pre-hearing review dismissed Mr Atta’s claim on the grounds that it had no reasonable prospect of success.
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