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Anon 10/12, 08:15, even if all you say is true and there are no mitigating factors, how is it just to penalise a firm for what must be tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds (and possibly more)? The Court has an extensive armoury of sanctions and this is the nuclear option.

Note the hyperbole and the intensifiers in the judgement: "This is an archetypal case where it would not be appropriate to grant relief from sanctions. There was a serious breach without good reason, followed by a very late application to seek relief, and a consideration of all the circumstances demonstrates that it is not an appropriate case for relief. "

"Serious" here means all of two weeks and "very" means another few days. And this is "archetypal" for which you are given the financial equivalent of being hung, drawn and quartered.

For some contrast on the measure of time in the court system, I was today consulted on an order made in July 2018 listing a 30 minute direction hearing for February 2019 with no other directions in the interim. In another case I am acting, a possession order made in May 2018 finally has a bailiff appointment also in February 2019.

And they call this justice.