The bill has been compulsory for most multi-track cases for nearly a year. However, roundtable attendees said its potential has been held back by a resistance to change.
Senior Costs Judge, Andrew Gordon-Saker, said his experience has been ‘pretty positive’ and he was keen for the bill to be extended to Court of Protection and judicial review proceedings.
Concerns included the need to improve the way fee-earners record time in the first place, a lack of training for judges and practitioners in Excel or other XML spreadsheet programs, and a reluctance among some practitioners to move on from paper.
Costs lawyer William Mackenzie, of DWF, which hosted the event, said his fee-earners estimated it was 25-30% quicker to review an electronic bill.
