The Supreme Court Costs Office guide

The Masters and Officers of the Supreme Court Costs Office have produced a new edition of the guide first produced in 1996. It is intended to be a helpful aide memoir for those appearing before them who, as the Master of the Rolls observes in his foreword, as a result of the satellite litigation arising out of conditional fee agreements, include many who would not otherwise have become involved in the rather specialised area of costs. Of particular assistance to all concerned with the SCCO are the list of telephone numbers (including that of the Senior Costs Judge’s personal assistant) and details of how to contact the SCCO by telephone, letter or fax. Details are also given of two facilities of which not all practitioners may be aware. The first is the Sitting Master. Costs judges act from time to time on a rota basis as Sitting Masters to hear applications in detailed assessment proceedings which have not been assigned to a particular costs judge or costs officer, to hear applications under the Solicitors Act 1974 and to deal with enquiries relating to practice and law arising out of assessments. The Sitting Master is also available to give guidance on points of practice to the judges of the Supreme Court and other courts throughout the country and (via his clerk) to any litigants or lawyers seeking his help. The second facility is the SCCO support sections in which clerks prepare cases for hearing. The Costs Judge’s Section deals with hearing before a master and the Costs Officer’s Section prepares hearings before a costs officer. The clerks in these sections deal with appointments, correspondence and telephone enquiries. Although they do not give legal advice, they will supply assistance and guidance in appropriate circumstances as to general office practice. Assistance and guidance on technical matters which are complex and difficult may be referred to the principal costs officer or to a designated senior clerk who will endeavour to help, possibly after consultation with the costs judge or costs officer to whom the case has been allocated. Bound copies of the guide are intended to be on sale ‘in a few weeks’, but previous experience of the publication of SCCO guides suggests this may be optimistic. For those who cannot wait, the guide is to be found on the SCCO page on the Court Service website at www.courtservice.gov.uk/notices/scco/not_scco.htm For those with the time and patience the 154-page document is downloadable.