In survey results published this week, 52% of ACL members reported an increase in disputes between solicitors and their clients (up from 46% when surveyed in the first half of 2021) The disputes mainly stemmed from personal injury claims.
ACL members are currently awaiting a Court of Appeal decision in Belsner v CAM Legal Services, a case concerning what constitutes a client’s informed consent to their solicitor deducting fees from their compensation.
Some 62% of respondents also backed Senior Costs Judge, Andrew Gordon-Saker’s calls for an urgent review of the Solicitors Act 1974, which forms the foundation of most costs law. Speaking at the Costs Law Reports annual conference in September, Gordon-Saker J said: ‘Too many solicitor and client assessments are preceded by an expensive hearing about whether the bill is a final bill, or an interim statute bill, or one of a series of bills that makes a final bill, or a request for payment on account.
‘So this is great for lawyers who specialise in costs, but personally I think it’s a bit embarrassing, particularly for the legal profession, that there’s so much dispute about what the bill is before you get to actually deal with what the client’s grievance is.’
ACL chair Claire Green said: ‘Costs law has become ever more complicated and, at a time when solicitors have had to maximise costs recovery to keep their businesses alive, it is no surprise that they have turned to the experts.
‘But the Senior Costs Judge is right to question whether the process of assessing bills has become too convoluted. It is nearly 50 years since the Solicitors Act was passed and a more streamlined system would benefit clients and lawyers alike.’
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