REUTERS | Denis Balibouse
June 7, 2016

Fixed costs: a trip down memory lane

Jackson LJ’s proposals to introduce fixed costs in multi-track cases worth up to £250,000 make me think back to the days of County Court scale fees, and a quick dig around some dusty books turned up the County Court Practice for 1995. There I was reminded that, until 30 June 1991, there were four scales of costs in the County Court and, from 1 July 1991 up until the advent of the CPR, three. If you succeeded in a claim worth more than £3,000, then your costs were taxed on the giddy heights of “Scale 2”. Between £100 and £3,000, they fell within Scale 1, and between £25 and £100, they were caught by the Lower Scale. Continue reading →