New Guideline Hourly Rates and PIC has a new addition to the family
Guideline Hourly Rates
If you haven’t seen the breaking news this week it’s all change for Guideline Hourly Rates from the 1st October 2021. The Master of the Rolls has accepted the changes recommended by the Civil Justice Council’s (CJC) working group on Guideline Hourly Rates (GHR), and has asked that the recommendations are implemented, with a view to the new guide being used from 1 October 2021.
The last increase in GHRs took place way back in 2010. A consultation was launched on 8 January 2021 inviting comments to the draft report prepared by the working group of the Civil Justice Council. The consultation closed on 31 March 2021 and the report was made public on 30 July 2021 confirming the Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Head of Civil Justice would be considering the recommendations with the full committee. Master Vos announced on 17 August 2021 those recommendations were being accepted.
Sir Geoffrey has asked his Officials and Master Gordon-Saker, Senior Costs Judge, to take forward the publication of the revised guide to summary assessment. It has been agreed that a further review of the GHRs will take place in the next two years. The revised Guide, which is in draft form at Annex J of the CJC report, will be published shortly with a view to it being used from the 1st of October 2021.
The rates from 1 October 2021 are:-
| Grade | Fee earner |
London 1 |
London
2 |
London
3 |
National 1 |
National 2 |
| A | Solicitors and legal executives with over 8 years’ experience |
£512 |
£373 | £282 | £261 |
£255 |
| B | Solicitors and legal executives with over 4 years’ experience |
£348 |
£289 | £232 | £218 |
£218 |
| C | Other solicitors or legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience |
£270 |
£244 | £185 | £178 |
£177 |
| D | Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners |
£186 |
£139 | £129 | £126 |
£126 |
The guide to summary assessment of costs can now be found here Guide to the Summary Assessment of Costs 2021 (final) (judiciary.uk)
Our costs family has now expanded – Welcome to Bidwell Henderson
The management and staff at Partners In Costs have this week welcomed Bidwell Henderson to its costs family along with A&M Bacon Limited. Reuben Glynn, Managing Director at Partners In Costs said “Bidwell Henderson’s expertise in legal aid costings adds tremendous value to the work we undertake at Partners in Costs with Clinical Negligence and PI work”
Chief Executive of Frenkel Topping said “I am delighted to welcome Bidwell Henderson to the group. Over the past seven years Mark, Ann and Rebecca have built a leading legal costs consultancy and were well known to the group prior to discussions around the acquisition.”
Rebecca Bidwell, Director added: “We could not be more delighted to become part of the Frenkel Topping Group. Bidwell Henderson is a growing business providing an array of legal services to lawyers. We have strategic and ambitious plans for the future”.
What does this mean for Partners In Costs users? It means we can expand our legal aid offering to other areas of the law with complex legal cases that require legal aid and the team at A&M Bacon are able to provide unrivalled costing services with Court of Protection matters.
Article by Adrian Hawley 19.08.21
