GRENADA Law and Practice Contributed by: Linda Dolland, Seon & Associates
5. Costs, Fees and Funding 5.1 Legal Fees
vation and sale of property, orders to deliver up goods, interim payments, and orders to provide information. 6.2 Interim Relief to Support Arbitration and ADR The court may grant interim relief in support of arbi- tration or ADR, including injunctions to prevent the wastage or dissipation of an asset. 6.3 Timing of Applications for Interim Relief While applications for interim relief are generally made at the commencement of an action, they can be made at any time during proceedings. 6.4 Security for Costs A party is able to apply for security for costs, in cir- cumstances where it is just to do so and the claimant is ordinarily resident out of jurisdiction or is an external company, or has taken steps to put assets beyond reach, or is a nominal/assignee/funded claimant. Fail- ure to provide security may result in a stay of the claim and ultimately strike-out of the claim. 6.5 Interim Injunctions Parties are able to apply for interim injunctions upon the American Cyanamid principles, generally where: • there is a serious question to be tried; • damages will be an inadequate remedy; and • the balance of convenience favours the injunction. 6.6 Summary Judgment A party is able to apply for summary judgment before a trial where the claimant has no real prospect of suc- ceeding in, or the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending, a claim. 7. Mass Claims and Class Actions 7.1 Procedural Mechanisms The key mechanism to bringing a class action in Gre- nada is pursuant to Part 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules 2023, which provides that where five or more persons have the same or similar interest, the court may appoint a body or one or more of the similarly interested persons to be a representative claimant or defendant.
Legal practitioner fees are governed by the Legal Pro- fession Act and Rules, and Grenada Bar Association scale fees for certain practice areas. Hourly rates, fixed fees and retainers are common place and should be expected. 5.2 Third-Party Funding There is no statutory regime for third-party funding in Grenada and litigation funding is rare in Grenadian practice. 5.3 Contingency Fee Arrangement Strict “no-win, no-fee” contingency arrangements are problematic as they are likely to offend champerty principles. Conditional fee arrangements (success fees) may be permitted where they do not amount to maintenance. Practitioners are subject to the Legal Profession Act in respect of ethics and fee arrange- ments. 5.4 Insurance “After the event” insurance is uncommon in Grenada. 5.5 Costs In practice, dispute resolution costs, in particular mediation costs, are not recovered from the other side, and are subject to agreement between the par- ties. 5.6 Assessment of Costs The general rule is that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs. The factors which will be taken into consideration in assessing costs are care and economy of preparation, conduct of the parties, novelty or complexity of the matter, and time reason- ably spent.
6. Interim Remedies 6.1 Availability of Interim Relief
The key types of interim relief that are available from the courts are interim injunctions, freezing orders, search orders, orders for inspection, custody, preser-
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