Welcome to a quick round up of costing news this week.
Costs Budgets
Costs budget news dominates the headlines this week with the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 4) Rules 2015, coming into force on 1st October 2015, introducing an amendment of CPR 47.6 as to the documents to be served when commencing detailed assessment proceedings.
Bills of costs will (from that date) need to include a breakdown of the work by phase where a costs management order has previously been made. Progress although there will no doubt remain scope for argument as to how detailed a “breakdown” needs to be and still no direction for the bill to be drafted in different parts for each phase of the proceedings.
Read the new amendment to CPR 47.6.
If, like us you are working on costs budgets daily it would be wise to first review the recent case of GSK Project Management Ltd –v- QPR Holdings Ltd [2015] EWHC 2274 (TCC) and consider some heavyweight comments from Mr Justice Stuart-Smith as he set about slashing the Claimant’s costs budget by £400,000.
Mr Justice Stuart-Smith said:
“It is hard to imagine anything more sterile than arguing about a grossly excessive costs estimate. It does not go to the issues, it is wasteful of Court and the parties’ time, and it offends against the obligation to keep costs to the reasonable minimum (both in the fact of the estimate and the need to whittle it down).”
For further insight and comment check out this article from Gordon Exall, Barrister at Zenith Chambers.
We ask: will “reasonable minimum” become the new standard for costs budgets?
Costs of Noise-induced Hearing Loss claims under Review
Last week, the Ministry of Justice asked the Civil Justice Council to investigate the number and cost of claims for noise-induced hearing loss.
“In response to ongoing concern about the number and cost of noise-induced hearing loss claims, we have asked the Civil Justice Council to consider the issue and to make recommendations. This builds on the recent substantial civil justice reforms designed to control costs and discourage unnecessary litigation while allowing access to justice for meritorious cases” said a spokesman for the MOJ.
One to watch?
Until next week.