On 8 January 2021, the Civil Justice Council (CJC) Working Group on Guideline Hourly Rates published its report for consultation on guideline hourly rates (GHRs). The consultation ends on 31 March 2021.
GHRs have not risen since 2010 and the report recommends increases ranging from 6.8% to 34.8% depending on grade and location.
In Mosley v Associated Newspapers Limited, Nicklin J analysed whether the defendant was liable for the tort of malicious prosecution after it sent a dossier of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), intending that the claimant be investigated for alleged perjury, even if ultimately no criminal investigation or prosecution ensued.
Nicklin J found that the claimant’s claim did not show any reasonable grounds for bringing a claim for malicious prosecution. In fact, the claimant failed to show that there was a “prosecution” at all. So it followed that Nicklin J allowed the defendant’s application to strike out the claimant’s claim because there had been no prosecution of the claimant.
Despite the very many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, many costs lawyers are reporting that they are busier than ever.
I am also pleased to report that the Association of Costs Lawyers’ (ACL) latest survey also found that the profession is becoming increasingly comfortable with the electronic bill of costs.
Some 126 costs lawyers (approximately a fifth of the profession) completed the survey, and 37% said they were busier than ever since the pandemic struck, while for 38% it had not made much difference to their practice. However, 15% said work had dropped off, although only one respondent said they had lost their job as a result and three said they were having to consider making redundancies.