SCCO guideline rates - Supreme Courts Costs Office

Localities
Fee Earner Grades
Rates to allow for senior fee earners
Guideline Rates for Summary assessment - January 2007
Counsel's Fees

The hourly rates are in line with the hourly rates published by the SCCO and / or individual county courts. Please note that these are guideline rates only. For the most part, the rates are those allowed on Summary Assessment, therefore mainly applicable to Fast Track cases. Courts may allow higher hourly rates in Multi-Track cases.

The guideline rates for solicitors provided here are broad approximations only. In any particular area the Designated Civil Judge may supply more exact guidelines for rates in that area. Also the costs estimate provided by the paying party may give further guidance if the solicitors for both parties are based in the same locality.

The following diagram shows guideline figures for each of three bands outside the London area, and a further three bands within the London area with a statement of the localities included in each band. In each band there are four columns specifying figures for different grades of fee earner.

Localities

The guideline figures have been grouped according to locality by way of general guidance only. Although many firms may be comparable with others in the same locality, some of them will not be. For example, a firm located in the City of London which specialises in fast track personal injury claims may not be comparable with other firms in that locality and vice versa.

In any particular case the hourly rate it is reasonable to allow should be determined by reference to the rates charged by comparable firms. For this purpose the costs estimate supplied by the paying party may be of assistance the rate to allow should not be determined by reference to locality or postcode alone.

Fee Earner Grades

The grades of fee earner have been agreed between representatives of the Supreme Court Costs Office, the Association of District Judges and the Law Society. The categories are as follows:

1. Solicitors with over eight years post qualification experience including at least eight years litigation experience.
2. Solicitors and legal executives with over four years post qualification experience including at least four years litigation experience.
3. Other solicitors and legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience.
4. Trainee solicitors, para legals and other fee earners.

"Legal Executive" means a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. Those who are not Fellows of the Institute are not entitled to call themselves legal executives and in principle are therefore not entitled to the same hourly rate as a legal executive.

Unqualified clerks who are fee earners of equivalent experience may be entitled to similar rates and in this regard it should be borne in mind that Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives generally spend two years in a solicitor's office before passing their Part 1 general examinations, spend a further two years before passing the Part 2 specialist examinations and then complete a further two years in practice before being able to become Fellows. Fellows therefore possess a considerable practical experience and academic achievement. Clerks without the equivalent experience of legal executives will be treated as being in the bottom grade of fee earner ie. trainee solicitors and fee earners of equivalent experience. Whether or not a fee earner has equivalent experience is ultimately a matter for the discretion of the court.

Rates to allow for senior fee earners

Many High Court cases justify fee earners at a senior level. However the same may not be true of attendance at pre-trial hearings with counsel. The task of sitting behind counsel should be delegated to a more junior fee earner in all but the most important pre-trial hearings. The fact that the receiving party insisted upon the senior's attendance, or the fact that the fee earner is a sole practitioner who has no juniors to delegate to, should not be the determinative factors. As with hourly rates the costs estimate supplied by the paying party may be of assistance. What grade of fee earner did they use?

An hourly rate in excess of the guideline figures may be appropriate for Grade A fee earners in substantial and complex litigation where other factors, including the value of the litigation, the level of complexity, the urgency or importance of the matter as well as any international element would justify a significantly higher rate to reflect higher average costs.

Guideline Rates for Summary assessment
January 2008

Band One Grade*	A**	B	C	D
Guideline Rates 2008	203	180	151	110
Aldershot, Farnham, Bournemouth (including Poole) Birmingham Inner Bristol Cambridge City, Harlow Canterbury, Maidstone, Medway & Tunbridge Wells Cardiff (Inner) Chelmsford South, Essex & East Suffolk Fareham, Winchester Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Isle of Wight Kingston, Guildford, Reigate, Epsom Leeds Inner (within 2 kilometers radius of the City Art Gallery) Lewes Liverpool, Birkenhead Manchester Central Newcastle - City Centre (within a 2 mile radius of St Nicholas Cathedral) Norwich City Nottingham City Oxford, Thames Valley Southampton, Portsmouth Swindon, Basingstoke Watford

 

Band Two Grade*	A**	B	C	D
Guideline Rates 2008	191	168	139	105
Bath, Cheltenham and Gloucester, Taunton, Yeovil Bury Chelmsford North, Cambridge County, Peterborough, Bury St E, Norfolk, Lowestoft Chester & North Wales Coventry, Rugby, Nuneaton, Stratford and Warwick Exeter, Plymouth Hull (City) Leeds Outer, Wakefield & Pontefract Leigh Lincoln Luton, Bedford, St Albans, Hitchin, Hertford Manchester Outer, Oldham, Bolton, Tameside Newcastle (other than City Centre) Nottingham & Derbyshire Sheffield, Doncaster and South Yorkshire Southport St Helens Stockport, Altrincham, Salford Swansea, Newport, Cardiff (Outer) Wigan Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley & Stourbridge York, Harrogate

 

Band Three Grade*	A**	B	C	D
Guideline Rates 2008	174	156	133	99
Birmingham Outer Bradford (Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Keighley & Skipton) Cumbria Devon, Cornwall Grimsby, Skegness Hull Outer Kidderminster Northampton & Leicester Preston, Lancaster, Blackpool, Chorley, Accrington, Burnley, Blackburn, Rawenstall & Nelson Scarborough & Ripon Stafford, Stoke, Tamworth Teesside Worcester, Hereford, Evesham and Redditch Shrewsbury, Telford, Ludlow, Oswestry South & West Wales

 

London Bands Grade*		A**	B	C	D
City of London: EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4	Guideline Rates 20078	395	285	219	134
Central London: W1, WC1, WC2, SW1	Guideline Rates 2008	304	231	189	121
Outer London: (All other London post codes: W, NW, N, E, SE, SW and Bromley, Croydon, Dartford, Gravesend and Uxbridge)	Guideline Rates 2008	219-256	165-219	158	116

*There are four grades of fee earner:

Note:"legal executive`" means a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.

**An hourly rate in excess of the guideline figures may be appropriate for Grade A fee earners in substantial and complex litigation where other factors, including the value of the litigation, the level of complexity, the urgency or importance of the matter as well as any international element would justify a significantly higher rate to reflect higher average costs.

The following table sets out figures based on Supreme Court Costs Office statistics dealing with run of the mill proceedings in the Queens Bench and Chancery Division and in the Administrative Court. The table gives figures for cases lasting up to an hour and up to half a day, in respect of counsel up to five years call, up to ten years call and over ten years call. It is emphasised that these figures are not recommended rates but it is hoped that they may provide a helpful starting point for judges when assessing counsel's fees. The appropriate fee in any particular case may be more or less than the figures appearing in the table, depending upon the circumstances.

The table does not include any figures in respect of leading counsel's fees since such cases would self evidently be exceptional. Similarly, no figures are included for the Commercial Court or the Technology & Construction Court.

	1 hour hearning	1/2 day hearing
Queens Bench
Junior up to 5 years call	£259	£450
Junior 5 - 10 years call	£386	£767
Junior 10+ years call	£582	£1,164
Chancery Division
Junior up to 5 years call	£291	£556
Junior 5 - 10 years call	£497	£931
Junior 10+ years call	£757	£1,397
Administrative Court
Junior up to 5 years call	£381	£582
Junior 5 - 10 years call	£698	£1,164
Junior 10+ years call	£989	£1,746

If the paying parties were represented by counsel, the fee paid to their counsel is an important factor but not a conclusive one on the question of fees payable to the receiving party's counsel.

In deciding upon the appropriate fee for counsel the question is not simply one of counsel's experience and seniority but also of the level of counsel which the particular case merits.

Counsel's fees should not be allowed in cases in which it was not reasonable to have instructed counsel, but it must be borne in mind that, especially in substantial hearings, it may be more economical if the advocacy is conducted by counsel rather than a solicitor. In all cases the court should consider whether or not the decision to instruct counsel has led to an increase in costs and whether that increase is justifiable.

 

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