On your bike - Mitchell appeal ruling in

Last week the Court of Appeal delivered its much anticipated decision on Mitchell - and upheld the original judgment limiting the recoverable costs to court fees only. Atkins Thomson - solicitors for former Conservative Party Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell -  failed to submit their half a million pound budget on time.

It's difficult to argue with the reasoning behind the decision - to have allowed the appeal would have been a missed opportunity to draw the line in the sand and consequently would have created uncertainty in the lower courts. Conversely you can understand why Atkins Thomson gave the dice a roll; they will still have to represent Andrew Mitchell, they will end up seriously out of pocket but are in no worse a position than they were pre-appeal.

While the dust settles on the decision, litigators will no doubt be tightening their procedures to ensure that day to day business pressures do not result in similar, potentially catastrophic, outcome. The Jackson 5 are not messing about - they have made that loud and clear