Understandably, the conjoined judgments of the Court of Appeal in Belsner v CAM Legal Services Ltd and Karatysz v SGI Legal LLP handed down last Thursday morning have given practitioners much to think about. I attended all of the February hearing in Belsner and segments of the October rerun. I shall be writing more—much more—on this subject.
There is one immediate point to act upon and that is derived from Karatysz. The case considered ‘What is a bill?’
The court said that properly drawn bills must specify the agreed charges and/or amounts that the solicitors intended to levy, together with full details of disbursements. The bill delivers to the client a comprehensive account of the financials. It is not just a statement of what the client is being asked to pay. Sums received from the defendant are to be included.
The bill should identify the following elements:
- base costs;
- the amount of any success fee; and
- disbursements.
The bill should also specify:
- what sums had been paid,
