How to avoid being referred to the SRA

The recent decision in Kapoor v Johal, Johal & Johal [2024] EWHC 2853 (SCCO), where a claim for costs was reduced from £258,583.78 to £0, has received a significant amount of attention, including in the Law Society Gazette, Solicitors Journal, Legal Futures, Civil Litigation Brief and Costs Lawyer Journal.

I suspect that part of the interest stems from the fact that the solicitor with conduct of the matter is to be referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Other solicitors may worry they could find themselves in the same position.

It is not the role of this blog to help solicitors get away with submitting inflated claims for costs. However, I can give some pointers from this case as to how to guarantee getting caught out, not all of which were fully explored in the formal judgment:

1. In the Bill, claim almost every single time entry in the document schedules in multiples of 30 minutes. It looks perfectly normal.
2. In the Bill, claim six different court hearings as all lasting exactly the same length of time with exactly the same travel and waiting time for each.
3. During the proceedings, serve a signed costs summary, setting out the costs that your client apparently incurred, showing that Firm A’s charges had been £2,500. Then claim costs of £16,076 in the Bill for that firm’s work.
4. During the proceedings, serve a signed costs summary, setting out the costs that your client apparently incurred, showing that that Firm B’s charges had been £4,068. Then claim costs of £27,403 in the Bill for that firm’s work.
5. During the proceedings, serve costs schedules/statements claiming hourly rates much lower than you then claim in the subsequent Bill. Then, on the second day of the detailed assessment hearing, disclose to the costs judge invoices showing the client had been charged at the lower hourly rates.
6. During the proceedings, serve various costs schedules/statements claiming certain time for various items of work and then claim much higher amounts of time for the same work in the Bill. Then, on the second day of the detailed assessment hearing, disclose to the costs judge invoices showing the client had been charged in accordance with the original schedules/statement.
7. During the proceedings, serve an attendance note, prepared by your firm, of a hearing showing that a clerk attended the hearing. Then claim a Grade A fee earner attended in the Bill.
8. In the Bill, claim Grade A attendance at various other hearings despite the contents of your file showing that, again, the attendances had been by a clerk.
9. For those hearings, claim in the Bill the fictional Grade A work as being several hours work plus VAT. Then, on the second day of the detailed assessment hearing, disclose to the costs judge invoices showing the client had only been charged £150 plus VAT for each of those hearings.
10. Create dozens of attendance notes to support the inaccurate claims for costs in the Bill but then leave other attendance notes/correspondence within the file lodged with the court that completely undermine those fictitious attendance notes.
11. In the Bill, claim for a Grade A fee earner preparing for and attending a hearing where the corresponding order records your client as being unrepresented.
12. In the Bill, claim approximately £35,000 of VAT on your profit costs. Then, on the second day of the detailed assessment hearing, disclose to the costs judge invoices showing your firm had never charged the client VAT.