Member Article

The five key things solicitors should know about High Costs Case Plans

A High Cost case is a complex and high value case that is predicted to go over the usual Legal Aid costs limitation of £25,000.00

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has experienced an increase of more than 100% of intakes since 2019 for High Costs matters, receiving over 750 individual case plans each week. 

With numbers only likely to increase further going forward, Andrew Brough of Brough Partners, looks at five key things that every solicitor should know about High Cost Case Plans: 

1.     Be pro-active: Registration of a case as High Costs must be done whilst the matter is ‘live’, as it cannot be done retrospectively. We therefore recommend actively keeping a track of the level of costs and consider registering as High Costs when these reach around the £12,500.00 mark, remembering to factor in any enhancements together with budgeted future costs. 

2.     Make an interim claim: once registration has taken place, if the costs are likely to exceed either £32,500 (Single Counsel) or £60,000 (2 Counsel), an interim Case Plan can be submitted to the LAA whilst the matter is still ‘live’. This allows the solicitor to be paid 100% of their payments on account and allows the LAA to be kept up to date about how the case is progressing. 

3.     Check the scope of instruction: Prior Authority is needed in 2 Counsel Case Plans, where both Leading and Junior Counsel are instructed. Once Prior Authority is granted, the case will automatically be registered as High Costs. Typically, the involvement of Leading Counsel is limited up to and including the Finding of Fact hearing. If Leading Counsel is instructed beyond that point, the scope of the legal aid certificate will need to be amended. 

4.     The rules on how Counsel are paid: Only if there are 10 or more main hearings can Counsel be paid by claiming Event fees. Alternatively, if there are less than 10 main hearing days, Counsel can choose to be paid under the Family Graduated Fee Scheme or by the Family Advocacy Scheme; and 

5.     Top-Up Events fees in 2 Counsel Case Plans: where Event fees are being claimed, send a fee earner of any Grade to sit behind Counsel. Not only can an additional £207.00 per Event be claimed, but it also provides a valuable training opportunity for members of the team. 

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nina Walton .