Costs Law: Shaping New Developments into Solution-Focused Answers for Your Clients

Programme

1. Chair's introduction

   Costs law: Shaping new developments into solution-focused answers for your clients

   Answered by Master Colin Campbell

   Colin sits as a Deputy Costs Judge at the SCCO. He sat as a Costs Judge from 1996 to 2015 and served as a costs officer of the UKSC and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

2. Appeals

   How can you gain an edge for clients in costs appeals?

   When do you bring them and when not, including caselaw and practical tips?

   Answered by Jamie Carpenter KC of Hailsham Chambers

   Jamie is "brilliant at taking the law and distilling it into something very pragmatic." He acted in King v Corp of London over the construction of CPR Part 36.

3. Hourly rates

   Given the sea change in judicial attitude, what amounts to a robust and persuasive justification for a departure from guideline hourly rates?

   Answered by Master Jason Rowley

   Jason is a Costs Judge at the Senior Courts Costs Office. He is co-author of 'Cook on Costs.'

4. QOCS

   How do you mitigate the tricky situation brought about on QOCS following the cases of Cartwright and Ho?

   Answered by Nicola Greaney of 39 Essex

   Nicola "is excellent in advisory work and on her feet and easily contends with complex facts." She takes silk in March 2023 and is a group litigation costs specialist.

5. Solicitor-Own client

   How will the Belsner litigation impact on solicitor-own clients disputes about large legal spend, and who will benefit?

   Answered by George McDonald of 4 New Square

   George “knows costs inside out and achieves fantastic results”. He is the contributing editor of Butterworths Costs Service and acted in the Belsner v Cam Legal Services litigation.

6. Part 36

   How do you ease the tension between part 36 offers and fixed costs following the CA's decision in Doyle v M&D Foundation (2022)?

   Answered by Roger Mallalieu KC of 4 New Square

   Roger acted in the Doyle v M&D Foundation litigation. He is a "master in his field, thinking of all the angles" and co-author of the White Book supplement on Costs and Funding.

7. Budgeting

   Will budgeting be extinguished completely or altered, and how, following judicial/CPRC scrutiny?

   Should it be postponed until after directions?

   Answered by Alexander Hutton KC of Hailsham Chambers

   Alexander has a "phenomenal command of costs law" and "the sharpest intellect around." He chaired the Hutton Committee on the E-Bill and acted in Barts Health v Salmon.

8. New fixed costs regime

   Where are the challenges likely to be, can fixed costs be avoided and how will market practice change?

   Answered by David Marshall of Anthony Gold

   David is Chair of the Law Society’s Civil Justice Committee and a member of the CJC's Costs & Funding sub-committee. He advised Jackson LJ on his Review of Fixed Recoverable Costs.