I have always found John M Hayes to be reliable, efficient and accurate.
Ryan Reed, Director, H.F.T. Gough & Co Ltd
Welcome to a round-up of the best costs-related posts published this week.
Coventry –v- Lawrence: in light of the recent media attention this week Matthew Soundy presents John M Hayes’ own summary of the story so far in sent to Coventry?
Gordon Exall, Barrister reminds us that the Government consultation on increased Court fees will close on 27th February 2015. Have your say and get involved. As Gordon states: some may say that the MOJ is about to make the same counter-productive mistakes that Parliament found it made with legal aid, but I could not possibly comment
This week costs budgets continue to provide their own challenges and offer more food for thought. Robert Pettit presents another budgeting moan – catch 22 commenting on a recent scenario at CCMC which led to all “to be incurred” costs being disallowed on the basis of a time lapse between the budget being filed and the hearing date. This allowed for all the costs to be incurred, to be incurred and thus be judged as located in the wrong column. You couldn’t make it up.
This theme is continued with Simon Gibbs writing on inaccurate costs estimates and commenting “the move from costs estimates to costs budgets has left rather a mess in the rules due to the absence of transitional provisions.”
JustRights campaigns for fair access to advice for children and young people and this week prepared an interesting briefing note: snapshot on the post-LASPO state of access to legal aid for children and young people .
The government tells us we’re streamlining the channels you use for CCMS enquiries and presents a list of new contact details for all CCMS work. We at John M Hayes are happy to report our early issue requiring us to input costs data at 5 am in order to ensure smooth continued access to the system appears to have resolved!
Whilst writing, don’t forget our free seminars on family legal aid costs: getting it right 2015 where David Smith, our Training Director will guide you through the main points to be aware of when looking to maximise your family costs and meet the LAA’s current submission requirements. The seminars will also look at key costs issues to be aware of when using the Client and Costs Management System (CCMS). Click on the link to check your nearest venue.
If you have a blog on costs related matters and would like to submit your post to the round-up, e-mail: Ilkley@johnmhayes.co.uk
Friday 20th February 2015