Nick McDonnell reviews the latest case law on costs
The Court of Appeal case Cam Legal Services Ltd v Belsner [2020] EWHC 2755 (QB) has profound ramifications for solicitors who charge fees to their clients where those fees are greater than the costs recovered between party and party. While the case arose out of a low-value personal injury claim, the issues go to the heart of nearly every retainer every solicitor and their client enters into where the solicitor seeks to charge their client for work done.
Indeed, the Court gave the Law Society permission to intervene to allow its standard Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to be considered as part of the broader legal analysis. The final appeal hearing commenced in February 2022 but, part-way through, the Master of the Rolls co...
