What lessons have been learned from the costs management pilots in the Mercantile Courts and Technology and Construction Courts? Jon Lord reports
The focus of the Jackson litigation costs reforms has been on the lower value market, such as the RTA portal and the issues of damages and referral fees which stem from an automated, fixed-costs system. In contrast, commercial litigation has received much less attention from the media, even though it too has to embrace costs budgeting reforms.
A number of costs pilots are shortly to become permanent, jurisdiction-wide fixtures, notably the costs management pilot in the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) and in defamation proceedings. The central provision of these pilots has been the requirement that both parties provide a detailed estimate of incurred and future costs, which is contained in a Precedent H form (this replaced the more general provision of an estimate of costs, under the Costs PD6 model).
Not just form-filling
The profession has now had some time to digest the proposed new rules and practice directions which give guidance on the operation of costs management. Curiously however, the President
