Rhett St James v Wilkin Chapman LLP
[2024] EWHC 1716 (KB)
Reem Zuhri v Vardags Limited
28 November 2023
[2023] EWHC 3050 (SCCO)
Senior Courts Costs Office
A solicitor sent a bill to their client. The client challenged it, and the solicitor made a special offer to settle. The court ruled that while the offer was considered, it didn't automatically change the rules about who pays the costs of the challenge. Because the client didn't cooperate, the court decided the client should pay the costs.
Key Facts
- •Claimant applied for assessment of Defendant solicitor's bills under section 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974.
- •Defendant made a Part 36 offer before the assessment.
- •The assessment resulted in a reduction of less than one-fifth of the bill.
- •The Claimant largely failed to cooperate with the assessment process.
- •The Claimant did not attend the assessment hearing.
Legal Principles
Section 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974 governs the assessment of solicitor's bills, including costs of assessment. The 'one-fifth rule' (s.70(9)) dictates cost allocation based on the bill reduction, unless special circumstances exist (s.70(10)).
Solicitors Act 1974, section 70
CPR 44-47 apply to various cost assessments, but not all provisions apply to all types of assessments. Specifically, CPR 46.9 and 46.10, along with Practice Direction 46, have specific provisions for solicitor-client assessments.
CPR 44.1, CPR 46.9, CPR 46.10, Practice Direction 46
CPR 47.20 (regarding detailed assessment costs) and CPR Part 36 (regarding Part 36 offers) do not fully apply to solicitor-client assessments under section 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974, per *John Poyser & Co Ltd v Spencer*.
CPR 47.20, CPR Part 36, *John Poyser & Co Ltd v Spencer* [2022] EWHC 1678 (QB)
A Part 36 offer, while capable of being a 'special circumstance' under s.70(10) to justify departing from the one-fifth rule, doesn't automatically trigger all CPR Part 36 consequences in a solicitor-client assessment.
CPR Part 36, *Orton v Collins* [2007] EWHC 803 (Ch), *C v D* [2011] EWCA Civ 646
Outcomes
The Defendant's Part 36 offer did not trigger the consequences specified in CPR Part 36.
Applying CPR Part 36 consequences to solicitor-client assessments would conflict with the one-fifth rule in section 70(9) of the Solicitors Act 1974. While a Part 36 offer might constitute 'special circumstances' under section 70(10) to justify a different cost order, it doesn't automatically override section 70(9).
The Defendant's costs of the assessment were awarded to them.
The one-fifth rule operated in the Defendant's favour, and the Claimant's lack of cooperation constituted special circumstances under section 70(10).