The new rule 3.15A introduces a formal procedure to revise budgets in the event of significant developments in litigation. This must be done ‘promptly’.
According to the ACL, parties need to submit the revised Precedent T to the other parties for agreement and then to the court with an explanation of the points of difference if they have not been agreed. Previously, the court’s approval was not required if the parties agreed the revisions.
ACL chair Claire Green said the new rule suggests it is unlikely courts will look favourably on a party that goes over budget without trying to revise it.
‘The rule committee is sending out a strong message with this change,’ she said.
‘Budgets are not rough estimates set in aspic at the time they were drawn up and only of limited use come the end of the litigation. Rather, they are living documents which parties are expected to keep up-to-date in the expectation that the sums in the approved budget are what they will receive in the event of success, however much they actually spent.’
Green said the phrases ‘significant developments’ and ‘promptly’ are not defined in the new rule, and may need to be clarified by court rulings.
‘An earlier draft of the new rule said the application to revise should be made “without delay”, which indicates the way the rule committee was thinking,’ she said. ‘So we would urge solicitors to act conservatively at this stage and not take any risks.’
