Sir Rupert’s grand ambitions for future costs reform are breathtaking, as Dominic Regan reports
The audacity of the new Jackson proposals is staggering. Let there be fixed costs across the board in all claims, of whatsoever nature, worth up to £250,000! This was the essence of his speech to the Insolvency Practitioners Association delivered on 28 January.
It will be remembered that in his final report he proposed such an approach for cases worth up to just £25,000 (Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report, January 2010). It never happened. Today, it is in the primary field of modern injury cases that costs are frozen, dependent upon quantum and the stage at which they settle. The time has come for an enormous extension. Why? Budgeting has not received a warm welcome. More than a few judges and practitioners complain that it is an expensive and futile process. The elusive test of proportionality is still wide open.
Nasty problems
Both of these nasty problems will be circumvented by a fixed costs regime. The costs will be calculated by reference
