Sue Nash highlights the key teething problems of costs management
A white paper published recently by the Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) makes it clear that costs management is not only here to stay, but will continue to spread through the litigation world.
The teething problems will take some time to pass, but there are several practical issues with the regime that the ACL would like to see addressed in the coming months.
Solicitor & own client costs
While the results of the costs management exercise do not impose a “costs cap” on recoverable costs, at CPR 3.18 the court will not depart from an approved or agreed budget unless satisfied that there is good reason to do so. There will often thus be no detailed scrutiny of the receiving party’s costs and no requirement for a bill of costs.
It is therefore important that paying parties can be assured that the receiving party’s budget does not include costs of a solicitor and own client nature which should never be recoverable in any event.
