Legal Cost Specialists

Surplus to requirements?

Lord Justice Jackson’s most recent observations include:

“Even if no success fees were payable (and I am not advocating this), solicitors would still do much PI work. There would simply be less surplus to share out amongst claims management companies, ATE insurers, trade unions etc.”

I hope he wasn’t including law costs draftsmen and costs lawyers in the “etc”.

 

4 thoughts on “Surplus to requirements?”

  1. Less surplus?

    Hmmmmmm so everyone gets less and less (which in turn produces lower standard of work / quality generally) and yet the insurers still put the premiums up and still take their hefty referral fees

    This is a separate issue I know but fact remains that Jackson will only benefit insurance companies and their shareholders

  2. Jackson should stop listening to the Insurers feeding him this tripe.

    And how about the courts now conducting Summary Assessments by slashing Base Costs because, and I quote, “the success fee brings the costs up to a reasonable level of remuneration for this case”!!!

  3. Jacques Hughes

    But he’s right isn’t he? Solicitors were taking cases from unions, motoring organisations, credit hire companies and LEIs for years on the understanding that they only got paid what they recovered from the other side. This is what distorted the present system from the start: it was bulit on assumption that, before CFAs, solicitors got paid win or lose. It simply was not true. It was even untrue, after 1994, in legal aid cases. Solicitors got paid much less if they lost. So, they did not need to double their fees in order to break even on CFAs.

  4. point noted

    however please explain how this means that the insurers will not be the main beneficiary given that

    A) their total outlay will go down,
    B) premiums are at their highest
    C) some of the largest referal fees are paid to insurers

    As simon said there will be less surplus as this will now be deposited back in the accounts of the insurers. less surplus does not mean that the system will collapse

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