Arbitrator’s fees and expenses

Agrimex Ltd v Tradigrain SA and others [2003] EWHC 1656 (Comm)

Section 28(2) of the Arbitration Act 1996 makes provision for the court to order that the amount of an arbitrator’s fees and expenses shall be considered and adjusted by such means and upon such terms as it may direct. This course was successfully adopted by the paying party in respect of the fees of a legal draftsman employed by the arbitrators to assist them in drafting the award. The draftsman was a solicitor of only three years’ post-qualification experience, but charged £9,300 out of total costs of under £20,000. After deprecating the use of legal draftsmen except in very special circumstances, the Court held that the charges were disproportionate and that no competent lawyer could have spent the amount of time claimed for. The solicitor’s fee was allowed at £5,000, which would have been lower had this not been the amount proposed by the paying party.