Costs: use of litigation funders

The decision of HHJ Waksman QC in Essar Oilfields Services Ltd v Norscot Rig Management PVT Ltd [2016] EWHC 2361 (Comm) is of crucial significance for the growing use of litigation funding. The court has confirmed that an arbitrator may include the enhanced costs of litigation funding in an ordinary award of costs in the arbitration, and that the arbitrator’s exercise of discretion is effectively beyond judicial review.

Essar : the facts