Fixed legal costs for the fast-track

Any remaining doubt as to whether Jackson LJ's costs review will recommend fixed legal costs for all fast-track matters has been removed by the recent report in the Law Gazette that he has asked the Civil Justice Council to start work on setting the appropriate level of fees for this work. He has asked the Council to try to agree the figures by 12 November 2009 for inclusion in his final report.

At last week's Costs Review Seminar held by the Costs Practitioners Group, chaired by Jackson LJ, the discussions proceeded on the basis that it was a foregone conclusion that fixed costs for fast-track cases would form part of the final recommendations.

All the madder then that others are pressing ahead with the new Claims Process (see previous post) with its own fixed fee regime. A lot of time and effort is going to have been wasted by one group.