Legal Cost Specialists
What grade of fee earner does a costs lawyer/law costs draftsman fall into? This is a different issue as to what grade can they justify on assessment, which I will deal with on another day. I recently commented on the subject of who qualifies as a Grade C fee earner. By way of a quick […]
What grade of fee earner is a costs lawyer or costs draftsman? Read More »
I have a bill of costs which utilises various hourly rates for the “Grade C”, “Grade A” and “Costs Draftsman”. However, the bill fails to comply with Costs Practice Direction 4.5: “The background information included in the bill of costs should set out: (2) a statement of the status of the solicitor or solicitor’s employee
Grade C fee earner? Read More »
The Master of the Rolls has considered a ‘Conclusions Report’ from the Advisory Committee on Civil Costs, and has accepted the recommendation that the interim Guideline Hourly Rates (GHR) should be accepted as the final hourly rates. The interim hourly rates came into effect on 1 April 2010, having been set pending the Committee’s further
Guideline Hourly Rates confirmed Read More »
When flying back from holiday the other day I was glancing at the on-board bar prices. (Despite living a multi-millionaire playboy lifestyle, I am too mean to pay for a flight that has a free bar.) They were selling 5cl miniatures of Bombay Sapphire gin (standard 40% strength) for £4 a bottle. By my maths,
Make my hourly rate a double Read More »
Ropewalk Chambers has an excellent article on their website by Andrew Hogan on how the current approach to hourly rates has led to a lack of proportionality and transparency in legal costs. This article was first presented to the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen at this year’s annual conference and has also appeared in the
Hourly rates out of control? Read More »
In a previous post I wrote that I was going to admit to being wrong on three occasions. Here is the second confession. Back in January, I predicted there would be no increase in the Guideline Hourly Rates. That prediction turned out to be inaccurate and the rates were indeed increased in April. However, as
Wrong on Guideline Hourly Rates Read More »
Those who act for paying parties are no doubt familiar with the Law Society’s Find a solicitor (see link) site that enables a check to be done on when a solicitor qualified. This is an invaluable tool for checking PQE and whether a fee earner therefore qualifies for a particular grade of hourly rate. The
The Master of the Rolls has now considered the recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Costs further, and also additional material put to him by the Committee. On the basis of the evidence available to him, the Master of the Rolls has decided to accept the Committee’s recommendation that the 2009 Guideline Hourly Rates should
2010 Guideline Hourly Rates Read More »