Costs Round Up: New Legal Aid Statistics Out
Legal Aid is in the news again this week for the government reported increase in exceptional funding applications during the last quarter: legal aid safety net applications soar.
However, the same set of quarterly statistics show that more than a third of cases (34%) in the family court have no legal representation for either party
Here is another startling fact chart from @MyLegalForum defining the demise of access to justice through new matter starts in civil legal aid.
Meanwhile new figures were published on 28th September confirming the current civil legal aid processing times which can be checked here
Fixed Recoverable Costs
In other news Fixed Recoverable Costs review is unlikely to commence October 2016. Patrick Allen has written an excellent piece in New Law Journal “Nightmare on Claimant Street” exploring the potential impact of an extension to the fixed recoverable fees scheme on work.
Costs Budget/Precedent H
There is a small amendment to Precedent H scheduled from 3rd October with the 86th amendment to CPR
And an interesting article from Rachel Rothwell (described as an unexpected boost to Claimants) on an arbitration case we covered last week where the costs of third part funding were recovered from the paying party. We remain with Professor Regan on this one and feel that is unlikely to set a precedent being so out of step with current thinking on costs recovery.
Company news
This week the team from Bristol completed the Legal Walk on Monday and the team from Ilkley gave a short, practical seminar to Hull Law Society on our “Brave New World” of Costs. Find out more about the content and how you can book a place at the Sheffield seminar on 5th October here – we’d love to meet you and share our knowledge and expertise on costs.
Until next week!
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