costs budgeting

“The assembling and pagination of bundles are generally to be regarded as administrative or secretarial tasks the costs of which are taken into account within the hourly rate of the fee earners involved; it is not generally separately chargeable (cf work done on preparing an index and deciding what documents should be included in a […]

“In most cases solicitors can be expected to keep a running electronic bundle of documents which can be bookmarked and added to as and when new documentation is made available. This is so even in document heavy cases (perhaps particularly so in such cases). This bundle can then be edited (and the index annotated) so

“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

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. The claimant’s representatives hailed the

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 the second point, but it

From 1 December 2022, the 152nd Practice Direction Update re-numbered a number of the Practice Directions to CPR 3.  So far as costs are concerned: The old PD 3E – Costs management – is now PD 3D. The old PD 3F – Costs capping – is now PD 3E. References in Points of Dispute, Skeleton

When is it preferable to have a costs order on the standard basis rather than on the indemnity basis?  Potentially, where a costs management order has been made. CPR 3.18(b) provides:  “In any case where a costs management order has been made, when assessing costs on the standard basis, the court will not depart from

PD 28 para.6.1(4) reads: “Attention is drawn to the Costs Practice Direction, Section 6, which requires a costs estimate to be filed and served at the same time as the pre-trial check list is filed.” Naturally, it is therefore sensible to refer to the Costs Practice Direction to see exactly what it has to say

If costs management orders simply set a total figure for each phase, how are VAT and success fees to be determined?  This problem is explored on our Costs Budgeting Blog.

The new Guidance Notes on Precedent H, following the update to PD3E para.7.4 (which came into force on 1 October 2019), moves trial brief fees from the Trial phase to the Trial Preparation phase.  This is presumably on the basis that the brief will be delivered before the trial commences and liability for the brief fee