Costs in a Quagmire

Speaking at the Law Society launch of Cook on Costs 2000, the first annual edition of his book (Butterworths £55) Judge Michael Cook, our general editor, said that although costs were seen as the lynch pin of the Civil Procedure Rules, they have been the least successful part of the reforms. The costs of interim hearings have escalated at least two- or three-fold; consumer surveys have shown summary assessments are universally regarded as unsatisfactory and it is probable they will disappear whenever additional liabilities are in dispute. Step by logical step we have walked steadily into a quagmire where in many cases more time and resources are spent on costs estimates, quantification and liability than on the subject matter of the litigation. It is in these circumstances that there is a mounting momentum to replace our entire system of costs either with something akin to the German system where there is a fixed amount recoverable for all litigation ascertained from a sliding scale, or the American system whereby no costs are recoverable between the parties.