Costs Round Up #62
Hello and welcome to Costs Round Up – the 5 minute read that enlightens, brightens and informs on the week in legal costs news.
This week:
Proportionality
Gordon Exall, Barrister over at Civil Litigation Brief tells the sorry tale of Brian May and his slashed costs: Proportionality: we will we will rock you – stark reading when we drill down into the numbers with the approved judgment confirming the initial assessment reducing costs from £208,236.54 to £99, 655.74 and then again at the second stage to £35,000 plus VAT. Damages were £25,000.
Assignment of CFAs: Kerry Underwood’s view
Kerry Underwood shares his personal thoughts and comments on Denise Jones V Spire Healthcare Ltd concluding that he would be “very wary of relying on this judgment in the sense of assuming that CFAs can be validly assigned.” Find out why he reaches that conclusion here.
Governmental increase in Court fees continue to bite
The latest Litigation Trends Survey 2016 makes for interesting reading and asks why costs aren’t working? More than 60% of respondents taking part said higher court fees have already affected clients’ decisions on whether or not to commence proceedings, while 87% predicted they would affect future decision-making by clients.
Legal Aid
There are two useful updates from the gov.uk website for the Ministry of Justice offering guidance to work out who qualifies for legal aid and a reminder to include vouchers for a disbursement claim over £20.
Don’t forget to have your say and take part in the MOJ survey on the new domestic abuse evidence regulations: the closing date is 1st July 2016.
Legal Benchmarking Survey
Legal Futures are reporting a 2016 legal benchmarking survey by MHA group cautions fee income at SME law firms is on the up, but profits are not matching the growth, with staff and premises costs among the causes.
Company News
This week we bade a temporary farewell to Laura Searle (on maternity leave) and welcomed Kenny Shealey to the team as acting Regional Manager for London and the South East.
Until next week….
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