Costs lawyers warn of “judicial inconsistency”

How well the costs management regime works varies according to “which judge you’re before”, costs lawyers have said.

The Association of Costs Lawyers’ (ACL) annual survey of its members highlighted the risks of judicial inconsistency when dealing with costs. More than one fifth of ACL members, 128 lawyers, responded. The lawyers also felt that “solicitors think they can do it—and they’re wrong”.

The costs lawyers saw government proposals for wider use of fixed costs as the main threat to their business. However, nearly two-thirds (64%) had either maintained or increased work levels from the previous year. Some 11% had taken on more advocacy. In-house costs roles at law firms were seen as offering the best job security.

The respondents had mixed views on the new format bill of costs and J-Codes—one third said solicitors weren’t interested and a further quarter thought they would make matters worse—and acknowledged that the courts would have to take a hard line to make them work. They also warned that solicitors show little interest in efforts to create an electronic bill of costs.

ACL chairman Iain Stark, says: “Costs management is now in its third year and has at times shown its value; however, judicial inconsistency and some solicitors continuing not to pay heed to the rules—particularly around updating budgets—means that it has not yet achieved what it was supposed to.

“It is in the entire legal profession’s interests to make costs management work, or otherwise face the prospect of having far more arbitrary fixed costs imposed from above for large swathes of cases. The new bill of costs, if properly implemented, could help with this process. We see costs lawyers as playing a pivotal role in both of these projects and the ACL will be front and centre of the debate.”