Leighanne Radcliffe – December 2004

Inter fee Earner Conferences/Routine Letters: On Appeal, Master O’Hare dealt with 2 aspects of a bill provisionally assessed by Costs Officer Sainthouse which had been challenged namely discussions between fee earners and also time claimed for letters which merely discharged invoices etc. He upheld the Costs Officer’s decision based on Garylee Grimsley above but also ruled that where matters take an unexpected turn of events which require additional experience to be sought then these type of discussions could be allowed. Turning to the matter of routine type letters Master O’Hare gave further guidance and allowed 3 minutes per letter as reasonable based upon his earlier decision in Jamie Walker below.