Costs By David Knapp Barlow Lyde & Gilbert

Planes Cars Consumer Goods “Never had it so good”

…nor have Lawyers Number of Solicitors on the Roll , ,757 Plus Paralegals, Trainees, Litigation Support Lawyers and part and fully qualified Legal Executives

……especially with costs London Band Guideline Rates Grade£/Hour A B C D City of London Central London Outer London (Gravesend, Uxbridge, Dartford) GRADE A-8 Years plus qualified Solicitor (aged 32  ) GRADE B-4 Years plus qualified Solicitor or Legal Executive GRADE C-Anyone not a Trainee or Paralegal

Base rates i.e. before uplift for Conditional Fee Agreement (“CFA”) UPLIFT Tripper=50% Employers Liability=70% Also Ku -v- Liverpool City Council Liability conceded but uplift was not reduced - 50% throughout currency of claim, including assessment of costs

1.Substantial Tripper issued out of Central London County Court. 2.Modest tripper issued out of Central London County Court. Grade A Fee Earner £ [50%] £ = £ / Hour Grade C Fee Earner £ [50%] £85.00 = £ / Hour

NBNo Defendant access to Claimant's files resulting in : (a)Excessive time recording? (b)Failure to check BTE Insurance? (c)Incorrect risk assessment on mark up - future successful EL claims will have mark up of 27.5%

Many problems caused by CPR : (a)Pre-action protocol used by too many Claimant Lawyers as a fund raising exercise for PADs. (b)Increased number of Case Management Conferences (c)Duties on experts greater and more expensive - joint statements, questions of experts, nominations

Compare and Contrast Legal Services Commission Rate - Civil cases where unsuccessful - £75.00 / Hour - Criminal cases often as low as £ / Day

Solutions (a)Revert back to LSC public funding and their rates - costs to Treasury for civil claims circa £50 million ? (b)Civil Justice Council to reduce hourly rates for Lawyers (turkeys and Christmas)? (c)Something more novel ???