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Legal Costs Blog

Legal Costs Blog

Legal Costs Blog

Costs webinar on Kenig v Thomson Snell and Passmore LLP

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 ...
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Costs of attendance at rehabilitation case management meetings

The Court of Appeal’s decision in Hadley v Przybylo [2024] EWCA Civ 250 is something of a curiosity. It overturned the earlier decision of Master McCloud who had decided, as a matter of principle, a fee earner’s attendance at rehabilitation case management meetings was an irrecoverable cost in the litigation. ...
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I must be hallucinating

In a recent speech, the Master of the Rolls suggested that the day may soon come when lawyers may be negligent if they fail to use generative artificial intelligence. Costs Counsel Andrew Hogan has been writing some interesting blog posts about the use of ChatGPT and shown some impressive looking ...
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Can you enforce an order for an interim costs payment on account?

Where the court orders a payment on account of costs, can that order be enforced? At this stage, the costs themselves have not yet been assessed. All that has been ordered is an interim amount until the actual amount due is determined. The note at 70.1.3 of the White Book ...
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Litigants in person and fixed recoverable costs

CPR 45.4 governs the costs payable to a litigant in person where it is a matter which would otherwise be subject to fixed recoverable costs (i.e. costs under Section VI, Section VII or Section VIII of Part 45). In this situation, costs will be paid according to CPR 46.5 with ...
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Defendant’s fixed costs when Part 36 offer accepted late

I have previously written about the discrepancy between the Fixed Recoverable Costs a claimant and a defendant may recover for the same period. This is as a consequence of a combination of CPR 45.45(1)(a)(iv), CPR 45.50(2)(b)(iv) CPR 45.6(2) and (3). A claimant’s costs are set by reference to the damages ...
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Fixed costs and deemed orders for costs

Acceptance of a Part 36 offer creates a deemed order for costs. Right? Not necessarily. So far as relevant: CPR 44.9 “(1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a right to costs arises under –  … (b) rule 36.13(1) or (2) (claimant’s entitlement to costs where a Part 36 offer is ...
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Transitional provisions for fixed costs

The transitional provisions concerning the new fixed costs regime are less than straightforward to follow, not least because of the defective drafting. When struggling to follow something like this, I like to try to visualise it with, if possible, a flowchart. This is what I have attempted here. To be ...
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Personal Injury Costs Webinar 2024

Costs webinar from Kings Chambers’ Andrew Hogan and Craig Ralph discussing current issues in personal injury costs including fixed costs, hourly rates, medical agency fees and developments in QOCS.
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Contracting out of fixed recoverable costs

Are parties free to contract out of Fixed Recoverable Costs (FRC) if a case would otherwise be subject to the regime? As currently drafted, it appears not. CPR 45.1(3) states: “Where— a claim is one to which Section IV, Section VI, Section VII or Section VIII of this Part applies; ...
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Defendants arguing fixed costs do not apply

There was a recent article in the online Costs Lawyer Journal concerning the new Fixed Recoverable Costs regime and how it applies to cases involving non-personal injury claims, specifically those that settle pre-issue but after 1 October 2023. The article records how some defendants are apparently arguing “that, absent an ...
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Fixed fee increase – Why settle now?

A previous post examined the increases to the Fixed Recoverable Costs (FRC) figures which will come into force from 6th April 2024. Although the relevant transitional provisions are clearly confusing, the intention appear to be: Where an order for costs is made before 6th April 2024, the FRC will be ...
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Transitional provisions for increases to Fixed Recoverable Costs

The Fixed Recoverable Costs (FRC) figures will be increased from 6th April 2024 to allow for inflation. The increases are based on the Services Producer Price Index for the period between January 2023 and October 2023. What transitional provisions govern this? Currently, CPR 45.1(8) provides: “A reference in any rule ...
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Incurred costs in costs budget

There are some odd comments in the judgment in Lifestyle Equities CV & Anor v Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club Limited & Ors [2023] EWHC 2923 (Ch) : “The Defendants … say the Claimants accepted the Defendants’ incurred costs were reasonable in the Precedent R. … The Claimants dispute ...
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Trial Advocacy Fee – Fixed Recoverable Costs

The idea of fixed trial costs for the advocate (usually counsel) was well established before the extension of the Fixed Recoverable Costs regime. In the fast track, there were fixed amounts for “an advocate for preparing for and appearing at the trial”. Actual “appearance” was therefore required. Nothing would be ...
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Updates to civil procedure rules

The latest amendments to the civil procedure rules have now been published: The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2024 The 163rd Practice Direction (PD) Update The majority of changes come into force on 6 April 2024. There is no amendment to cure the defective transitional provisions relating to Fixed Recoverable Costs ...
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Can defendants recover costs if a claim settles pre-issue?

Does the extension of Fixed Recoverable Costs enable defendants to recover their costs if a matter settles pre-issue? There are certainly a number of commentators who have suggested that this is indeed the case. If correct, this would mean that the mere act of sending a letter of claim might ...
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Fixed Costs for Stage 1 of the Intermediate Track

Part VII of CPR 45 is headed: “VII FIXED COSTS IN THE INTERMEDIATE TRACK” CPR 45.50(1): “For as long as the case is not allocated to the multi-track, the only costs allowed in any claim which would normally be or is allocated to the intermediate track are (a) the fixed costs in ...
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Fixed Recoverable Costs – CPR 45.13

CPR 45.13 allows the court to penalise a party who is found to have behaved unreasonably by reducing their costs by 50% if the unreasonable party is the receiving party or increasing the other party’s costs by 50% if the unreasonable party is the paying party. The rule does not, ...
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