Legal Costs

Shortly before Christmas the new edition of Friston on Costs landed on my doormat.  Obviously, I do not mean that literally.  They have yet to design a letterbox large enough for a book this size and, if you order online, the description has a two-person delivery symbol beside it to indicate the number needed to […]

The first problem with the vanity legal awards industry is that they are often ridiculously wide in the nature of the awards they seek to distribute, to the extent to which the awards are meaningless (even if they were distributed on merit). For example, Wealth & Finance INTL magazine previously awarded Gibbs Wyatt Stone ‘Most

The last increase in the VAT rate occurred on 4 January 2011. It is therefore surprising, to say the least, that some receiving parties appear to be still ignorant of the rules relating to work undertaken when the VAT rate was lower (15% or 17.5%). (Of course, it is perfectly possible that this is simply

I’m not sure if Lord Justice Jackson has recently started taking backhanders from the Association of Costs Lawyers but, if so, I’d be happy to start contributing to the payments. How else to explain his proposals for the extension of fixed fees? Payments are to be linked to one of ten different phases with endless

Lord Justice Jackson’s suggested rules and grid for introducing fixed fees for all claims with a value of up to £250,000 (which he suggested could be accomplished this year if the political will is there) rather has the appearance of being put out there, not necessarily with the intention it will be formally adopted in

Last Monday I attended a detailed assessment hearing concerning a bill totalling £93,000. The last offer made by the paying party, based on my advice, was for £27,500. The bill was assessed at £69,000. This proves what a terrible costs lawyer I am and how wholly unrealistic the offers are I put forward. My opponent

Costs Lawyer magazine recently published the predictions for 2016 of the great and the good in the profession. They also asked me. This was my contribution, written before Lord Justice Jackson’s latest speech: “When I was asked this question last year, my prediction was that 2015 would be the year guidance would be given by

In Mansion Estates Ltd -v- Hayre & Co (A Firm) [2016] EWHC 96 (Ch) His Honour Judge Saffman commented: “in my view it would be wrong to assume that it is inherently more improbable that a professional person will be dishonest than anyone else. If ever such a view validly had traction, I do not

Lord Justice Jackson has repeated his calls for an extension of fixed costs, this time with a recommendation it should apply to all claims with a value up to £250,000 and also produced a proposed matrix of the fixed costs that should be payable. One of the reasons advanced in favour of an extension of

I previously mentioned that the conflict in decisions as to whether fixed costs apply where costs are payable on the indemnity basis, when a claimant succeeds on a Part 36 offer, was due to be resolved by the Court of Appeal in February. Kerry Underwood’s blog now reports that this case has settled. We are