Costs Law Reports - Online Launch

I previously commented on the relaunch of Costs Law Reports (see post).

Yesterday they launched the associated new website.  The Legal Costs Blog had been granted a sneak advance preview but they have clearly been busy over the last day or two making further improvements. 

The site provides access to all cases reported by Costs Law Reports, being almost 700 cases to date.  In addition to recent decisions, these include such fundamental older costs law cases as Gundry v Sainsbury, Meday Oil and Storage Co Ltd v Continental Contractors Ltd and Brush v Bower Cotton & Bower (a Firm).

Although I don't do criminal work myself, the large number of criminal cases reported, that are not available elsewhere, will be invaluable for those who do.

The site has a useful and intuitive search function.  Although the "keyword" option could probably do with a bit of work (it currently being based on the index from the print version) there is an excellent and very powerful ordinary text search.

PDFs of judgments are also available for easy printing and taking to court.

Wendy Popplewell, Association of Law Costs Draftsmen Chairman, says: "Costs Law Reports are absolutely vital for all costs draftsmen. The expert editors, Master Rogers and Michael Bacon, discover and report so many cases which are either not reported elsewhere or not reported for a very long time. I know that they have been sorely missed by many of our members since their publication faltered late in 2008. We are delighted that Class Legal have committed to getting the publication back on track, and will be offering an improved service."

At only £299.95 plus VAT for the online service, this has got to be a winner.  Pay a visit: Costs Law Reports.

ILEX Directory

Those who act for paying parties are no doubt familiar with the Law Society's Find a solicitor (see link) site that enables a check to be done on when a solicitor qualified.  This is an invaluable tool for checking PQE and whether a fee earner therefore qualifies for a particular grade of hourly rate.

The ILEX website also has a directory (see link) but until relatively recently it did not give the date of qualification as a Fellow. It now does and is therefore another useful tool for paying parties to ensure they are not paying too much. 

But seriously...

The Legal Costs Blog prides itself on its honesty and integrity.  However, I have a small confession to make.  Our recent announcement of the launch of Legal Costs TV (see post) was a spoof announcement.  The clue was in the fact the announcement, that coincided with a press release, was made on 1^st April. 

I’ll spare their blushes by not naming some of those who fell for this one, including a number of high profile individuals. 

The Law Society Gazette enjoyed this one and reported it in the Obiter section (see link).

What was interesting about those taken in by the spoof is that they clearly thought the idea of a channel devoted entirely to the subject of legal costs law was plausible.  On reflection, they may be right.  In 2009 there were 764 members of the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen.  For Costs Lawyers they are required to undertake at least 12 hours Continuing Professional Development.  There are large numbers of solicitors, barristers and insurers who also need to keep up to date with developments in the legal costs world.  That is before you include the large number of unregulated costs draftsmen, legal costs negotiators, etc who also need to keep up to date with costs law.   

Although a TV station entirely devoted to the subject might be pushing it, the growing use of podcasts and webinars suggests that may be where the future lies.  If anyone was going to launch this, who better than the Legal Costs Blog?  Last month our website received over 22,500 unique visits and we have a growing number of subscribers to the Blog.  Perhaps the joke was on us.  Watch this space.

As the Law Society Gazette put it: “given the quality of some of the satellite channels out there, Legal Costs TV would probably still not be the worst thing on the box”.

For those who didn’t visit the spoof website, that our excellent IT consultants Computer Boffins designed, it can still be viewed here: www.legal-costs-tv.co.uk.

Proportionality

A further definition from The (Alternative) Legal Costs Dictionary:

Proportionality advs.  a theoretical legal concept whereby the court will not allow legal costs to be recovered that are disproportionate to the amount at stake.  An example of proportionality being applied by the courts has yet to be reported.

The Jackson Aftershock - Webcast

The New Law Journal will host a live panel discussion on how Lord Justice Jackson’s proposed legal costs reforms could undermine the viability of personal injury claims and those who run them (or that's their spin on it anyway).

Professor Dominic Regan, a leading authority on civil procedure and costs, will chair the free 30-minute newscast, which will be broadcast at 1pm on Friday 9 April at www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Panel participants:

• Andrew Twambley, Senior Partner, Amelans
• Simon Butler, Barrister, Ely Place Chambers

The panel will offer expert analysis and debate on how and when Jackson LJ’s recommendations are likely to be implemented and the impact they are will have on costs, clients and practitioners.