Is this an own goal?

Winning can be expensive

Although obviously not as expensive as losing!

Which means that no matter how happy Colleen Rooney must be feeling at the moment she must know (and I’m sure her solicitors have warned her) that she will never recover every last penny from Rebekah Vardy.

The reality is that even though the proceedings were issued against her, and the court has found in her favour, Colleen is still likely to be out of pocket, not to mention the stress that always comes with court proceedings.

The likes of Rooney and her opponent Vardy can probably afford it, and will no doubt be able to make up any shortfall by using these experiences. I’m sure there will be plenty of people willing to pay them to write columns, blogs, and give interviews that will plug the financial gap and possibly make it all worth while in the end.

For us lesser mortals, and particularly those who are surprised when I caution them about how expensive litigation can be, I was pleased to read a recent comment from Jack Ridgway, chairman of the Association of Costs Lawyers, who said, amongst other things, that winning parties recover about 70% of their costs, which is what I’ve been advising clients for years. No matter how good your claim is, and how certain you are to win, winning is still going to cost you around 30% of your legal fees. When you add in litigation risk, and the stress of court proceedings, not to mention the damage that could be done to your business if you are having to spend time with your legal team preparing for the case, litigation is clearly not for the faint hearted.

Of course, we don’t know what attempts were made behind the scenes to settle, and the cynic in me says that it’s always possible that the two of them knew exactly what they were doing, and this was all a publicity stunt. Knowing how much court time this took up I really hope I’m wrong, but who knows.

For those more level headed amongst you, the best way to reduce the risks of litigation is to make sure you have good contracts in place, and take proper legal advice before you commit yourself to anything.

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full service law firm. They think it’s all over. It is now.