Checkmylegalfees acted for the Claimant in establishing, in a judgment handed down on 11th January 2021, entitlement to assessment of just under £1 million in legal bills
"in order to "make it plain" to a client that he is receiving an interim statute bill, it seems to me that the information given at the outset needs to make clear that there are time limits and indeed give some indication of what those time limits are. The idea that several months, or, in this case, years after the engagement letter and terms and conditions were provided, the client ought to be alive to the fact that he has an entitlement under the Solicitors Act if he challenges bills promptly, seems to me to be far-fetched. There is no mention of the Solicitors Act on the invoices even to prompt such a recollection"
Costs Judge, Master Rowley
Further comment to follow, in the meantime the full judgment is available below
Masters v Charles Fussell & Co LLP [2021] EWHC B1 (Costs) (11 January 2021)