Legal Cost Specialists
“Typically, junior grade D fee earners are, for instance, involved in obtaining medical records from medical providers (and the substantial involvement of higher grade fee earners in this task may be unreasonable).” – from Costs Judge Simon Brown’s Note on costs budgeting in the King’s Bench involving high value personal injury claims
Appropriate grade of fee earner to obtain medical records Read More »
Costs webinar from Kings Chambers’ Andrew Hogan and Kevin Latham reviewing current issues in clinical negligence costs, including fixed costs, the increasing trend towards ADR, hourly rates and deductions for success fees and ATE premiums from protected parties and children’s damages.
Costs webinar on costs in clinical negligence cases Read More »
So far, since the extension of Fixed Recoverable Costs (FRC), there have probably been very few, if any, cases which have gone as far as trial. Unfortunately, once there are, we will start to see all kinds of problems arise because of yet another case of poor drafting. When the FRC rules were first introduced,
Fixed Trial Costs if case removed from list and then re-listed Read More »
The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) is consulting on creating a new membership category: Fellow Costs Lawyer. I fear there is some muddled thinking behind this. The right to use the term “Costs Lawyer” comes from completing the relevant training and holding a current practising certificate issued by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB). All
Fellow Costs Lawyer Read More »
I was recently asked to review some invoices a client had received from their solicitors. At the bottom of each invoice the client was advised of their right under “the Solicitors Remuneration Order 1972” to require the solicitors to “obtain a Certificate from the Law Society stating that in their opinion the costs charged are
Solicitors Remuneration Certificate Read More »
It has generally been understood that Conditional Fee Agreements in relation to personal injury claims, in proceedings at first instance, must limit the success fee that can be charged to the client to 25% of (a) general damages for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity and (b) damages for pecuniary loss, other than future pecuniary
Cap on success fee in personal injury claims Read More »
The Civil Procedure Rule Committee’s decision to refuse to admit they made a drafting error in relation to the transitional provisions concerning Fixed Recoverable Costs for non-personal injury claims is regrettable. Not only is it likely to generate unnecessary satellite litigation due to the uncertainty it has created, it is also likely to generate unnecessary
Fixed fee transitional provisions for non-personal injury claims Read More »
Under the new Fixed Recoverable Costs regime, there are various exceptions where the court may allow an amount greater than the specified fixed costs. In particular: The Court may consider a claim for an amount of costs which is greater than the fixed recoverable costs where there are “exceptional circumstances” (CPR 45.9(1)). CPR 45.10(1) allows
Departing from fixed recoverable costs Read More »
For many years the Law Society provided a model conditional fee agreement for use in personal injury and clinical negligence cases. This was updated from time to time. The last version was updated in 2014 and, even then, appears to have been a temporary job as the header to the document stated: “This model agreement
2024 Law Society Model Conditional Fee Agreement Read More »
Costs webinar from Kings Chambers’ Matthew Smith and Paul Hughes discussing how the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Kenig v Thomson Snell and Passmore LLP [2024] EWCA Civ 15 affects the way that solicitors ought to perform retainers dealing with the administration of estates and the likelihood and course of assessment of their
Costs webinar on Kenig v Thomson Snell and Passmore LLP Read More »