At first glance, awarding a law firm based in Canary Wharf (one of the main financial hubs in the world) hourly rates in line with City of London rates may not come as a huge surprise. You would be forgiven for not realising that the post code of Canary Wharf (E14) in fact classifies it as an outer London area in accordance with the bandings of the guideline hourly rates.
As such, in Shulman v Kolomoisky and another, the claimant challenged the hourly rates sought by the second defendant (represented by Canary Wharf-based Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, a leading US firm) on the basis that the starting point for the assessment should be the Band 3 London guideline rates, and that the nature of the work would mean that an hourly rate somewhere between the City and outer London rates would be appropriate.
