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24 March 2021 / Julian Chamberlayne
Issue: 7926 / Categories: Features , Profession , Costs
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A matter of time: guideline hourly rates (Pt 3)

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43925
In his final update, Julian Chamberlayne discusses the future of GHR, inflation & suggests a fairer way forward
  • The working group’s current methodology, based on allowed rates, leads to proposed GHR that are 15% lower than average claimed rates.
  • Erosion of the full compensation principle and possible solution.

This is the third in a series of articles concerning the Civil Justice Council (CJC) working group’s report on the Guideline Hourly Rates (GHR) of 8 January 2021 and the associated consultation that runs to the end of March 2021 (see https://bit.ly/315LEUO).

In the first article, I set out the background, then described and commented on the CJC’s methodology; in the second, I looked at the London and National bandings, plus the application of enhancements to GHR for complexity, importance and value. This leaves me now to turn to the future of GHR, inflation and the consultation questions.

The future of GHR

The CJC working group sensibly acknowledged there were some issues

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