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12 December 2013 / Jason Rowley
Issue: 7588 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Costs
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Grappling with the cost

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Lawyers must get hands-on with costs, says Jason Rowley

 

This article looks at the continued attempts by courts to grapple with the cost of litigation prospectively and not simply at the end of the case. If costs and case management by the courts works as intended, it will render detailed assessments simpler and rarer than they are now. If on the other hand, the new arrangements are too unwieldy, are there other options that might be considered in due course?

 

I’m a lawyer, get me out of here

There is something almost visceral about the dislike engendered in most lawyers when asked to provide an indication of their fees that is a fixed sum or may become so. Why is that? In everyday life lawyers, like everyone else, expect the goods and services they buy to be priced in a clear and calculable, if not fixed way. But when it comes to their own fees,

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NEWS
A wave of housing and procedural reforms is set to test the limits of tribunal capacity. In his latest Civil Way column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold charts sweeping change as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins biting
Plans to reduce jury trials risk missing the real problem in the criminal justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, David Wolchover of Ridgeway Chambers argues the crown court backlog is fuelled not by juries but weak cases slipping through a flawed ‘50%’ prosecution test
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law
A controversial protest case has reignited debate over the limits of free expression. In NLJ this week, Nicholas Dobson examines a Quran-burning incident testing public order law
The courts have drawn a firm line under attempts to extend arbitration appeals. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed of the University of Leicester highlights that if the High Court refuses permission under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, that is the end
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