URGENT NEW EXTENSION OF FIXED COSTS
The long-awaited Rules have now been announced around the extension to fixed costs. Some key points to note are:
- If liability and causation isn’t admitted on a clinical negligence matter prior to allocation, then it will escape fixed costs.
- Fixed costs may be reduced by 50% where a receiving party is considered by the Court to have behaved unreasonably.
- Check date of issue – new FRC will apply to claims where proceedings are issued on or after 1st October 2023, save for personal injury
- Importance of Letter of Claim – new FRC only apply to disease claims where the Letter of Claim has not been sent to the Defendant before 1st October 2023
- The new intermediate track will capture cases where Trials have been listed for 3 days, or less with no more than 2 expert witnesses giving oral evidence on each side
- Judges will retain discretion to allocate more complex cases valued at under £100,000 to the multi-track, so they will be inappropriately captured by the extended FRC scheme.
There are many more points which PIC are offering training on. If you wish for training on what this means for you and your firm, please get in touch by emailing info@pic.legal or call our Engagement and Development team on 03458 72 76 78