Issue and argument
The Defendant had delivered invoices of in excess of £2.5M against which account payments of approximately £1.17M had been made. The Claimant brought Part 8 proceedings for an assessment of the costs of her former solicitors. Relying on the Court of Appeal decision in Karatysz v SGI Legal LLP [2022] EWCA Civ 1388 (27 October 2022) (bailii.org) the primary argument was that the invoices that had been delivered did not comply with the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974. Specifically, the Claimant argued the invoices did not provide adequate information on sums paid on account. The Defendant maintained that the bills provided sufficient information, and pointed to supplementary information given via attached timesheets.
Decision
Although the Judge found that the invoices could have been clearer, he found that the invoices together with their enclosures made it sufficiently clear what had been paid and provided sufficient information to the Claimant to enable her to take a decision as to whether to apply for assessment. Thus the threshold had been met. Furthermore, the judge noted that in any event the Claimant’s own Part 8 claim form made it clear that she understood what payments had been made on account and that she had been provided with sufficient information to her to make a decision about whether to bring assessment proceedings.
An invitation by the Defendant for a further account payment was declined with the Judge stating that he was not satisfied with a requisite degree of confidence that a further sum will be due.
Link to judgment: Pickering v Thomas Mansfield Solicitors Ltd [2024] EWHC 1107 (SCCO) (10 May 2024) (bailii.org)
