The proposal to dispatch all costs disputes worth up to £50,000 to the LeO was made by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) in April, in its consultation on reform to Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. Responding this week, the ACL expressed concern the LeO ‘lacks the requisite expertise and capacity to deal with costs assessments and that this would not necessarily result in more proportionate disputes’.
Instead of the LeO, the ACL suggests setting up an online portal, similar to the Official Injury Claim portal, where parties can exchange information and make offers. The ACL noted: ‘Members of our working group agreed that often solicitor and client disputes arose due to a lack of knowledge, for example clients erroneously contending that they had not had fee estimates or a copy of a retainer.’
If not resolved, the dispute could be referred to a lawyer from a specialist panel—made up of costs lawyers, solicitors, barristers and chartered legal executives—for a preliminary determination. Complex matters could be referred to a court.
If the dispute continues, the ACL recommends using the current provisional assessment regime, with a determination on paper and a possible oral hearing for cases worth up to £75,000—if the court does not change the panel’s decision by at least 20%, then the issuing party would bear the costs.
ACL Council member Amy Dunkley said: ‘Everyone is concerned that the LeO is a long way from even being in a position to think about taking on costs disputes, but work on our model of a pre-action protocol and expert panel could begin at once and would likely have much the same impact.’
