Costs Roundup #63
For those of you that are still awake following a long night of referendum results....welcome to our weekly roundup of legal costs news.
Part 36 offers
The High Court has ruled in the case of Lowin v W Portsmouth Co that a successful part 36 offer in a provisional assessment removed the £1500 cap on costs. Gurion Tausig, the barrister acting for the successful party commented ‘parties should be incentivised to make reasonable cost offers, but they must equally be aware that a failure to accept a reasonable Part 36 offer is likely to have cost consequences if the offeror achieves a better result on provisional assessment.’ Read more here.
Costs Management Poll
A poll conducted by the Association of Costs Lawyers has highlighted concerns regarding judicial inconsistency. The survey asked how the current costs management regime was working and the most common response was that it depended on the judge. The survey also highlighted concerns regarding the government’s reform agenda. Find out more here.
Legal Aid Audits
A new guidance document was released by the LAA this week called ‘Preventing audit issues’. The LAA state that ‘using the guide will help prevent nil assessments and reductions to costs. It covers civil and crime work including sections on eligibility and category specific issues’. The guide can be accessed here.
Public Interest Interventions
Following fears that new statutory rules on costs could discourage interventions in the public interest, human rights organisation Justice has produced guidance on third party interventions in the High Court and Court of Appeal. In a foreward to the report former Supreme Court President Lord Phillips says that it ‘will assist interveners to ensure the rules that they always add value to the court’s deliberations and are not at risk of being penalised in costs’. More information can be found here.
Until next week.....
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