Whether you require a regular budget drafting service, a one-off costs budget for high value commercial litigation, or assistance in opposing a budget, we would be delighted to discuss our competitive terms and our services.
What is a Precedent H cost budget?
Form Precedent H (Annex A, Practice Direction 3D – Costs Management), conventionally referred to as a ‘costs budget’, sets out details of a party’s incurred and estimated litigation costs. Costs budgets are required for the purposes of costs management pursuant to CPR 3. The costs budgeting process allows the case management judge to set a limit on future recoverable costs.
In which type of case must a Precedent H be filed?
With limited exceptions, Precedent H is required in all Part 7 multi-track cases with a monetary value below £10M, and in higher value cases where directed by the court.
What should a Precedent H Include?
A Precedent H includes a high-level phase by phase summary of all costs and disbursements incurred on the case to date. In most cases the Precedent H should be completed, filed and served no later than 21 days ahead of the first case management conference (‘CMC’); thus the account of incurred costs normally runs to a few weeks before the CMC. The Precedent H also includes estimates of future costs – normally running up to and including trial – again broken-down phase by phase. There are ten standard phases (Pre-action, Issues/statements of case, CMC, Disclosure, Witness statements, Expert reports, Pre trial review, Trial preparation, Trial, and ADR/settlement).
What happens if I do not file a costs budget?
CPR 3.14 provides that ‘[u]nless the court otherwise orders, any party which fails to file a budget despite being required to do so will be treated as having filed a budget comprising only the applicable court fees.’
What are costs budget negotiations and budget discussion reports?
Costs budget negotiations normally take place between the parties following the exchange of budgets and ahead of the first CMC. Following exchange of Precedent Hs, the parties prepare budget discussion reports (costs Precedent R) which set out figures which are agreed for each phase, figures which are not agreed for each phase; and a brief summary of the grounds of dispute. Budget discussion reports are normally to be filed no later than seven days before the CMC. It is not unusual for parties to agree each other’s budget in part or in full.
Can incurred costs be contested?
Incurred costs can only be assessed at the conclusion of the case, at detailed assessment. A Judge dealing with the costs budgeting will not assess either parties’ incurred costs, although he or she may comment on them and any observations will be taken into account at any subsequent detailed assessment.
Why choose DeNovo?
We have a highly skilled team of costs lawyers and costs draftsmen, who draft budgets in cases of all kinds, both moderate and high value. We are a specialist legal costs consultancy. We work hard to maintain and to live up to our reputation as one of the UK’s top providers of legal costs related services. All of our costs lawyers and consultants are highly experienced. We spurn the ‘one size fits all’ approach, characteristic of many costs consultancies; as a result we provide clients – many of whom continue to instruct us after 20 years - with the certainty that their cases will be handled by the most appropriate, competent and experienced legal costs experts.
