David Cooper recounts an ideal costs scenario
It is often said that we are not just ‘lawyers’ but also businesspeople. It is essential for the business to have good cash flow, which can be difficult when you are acting under a conditional fee agreement, legal expense insurance or other funding arrangement where you cannot obtain regular payments from the client.
When a case concludes, and an order for costs is made against the losing party, CPR 44.2(8) envisages an order for payment of a reasonable sum on account of costs being made unless there is good reason not to do so.
In multi-track cases, there is likely to have been a costs management order under CPR 3.15, so both parties will be aware of the potential amount of costs. Where there has not been an order or costs are being summarily assessed, it is essential that details of costs is available to the trial judge and the losing party so that proper consideration can be given to the question
