Page 12 - PIC Magazine Issue 24 - Spring-Summer (Digital)

Grade Fee Earner
London 1
London 2
London 3
National 1
National 2
Solicitors and legal executives with over 4 years' experience
£566
£413
£312
£288
£282
Solicitors and legal executives with over 8 years' experience
£385
£319
£256
£242
£242
Other solicitors or legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience
£299
£269
£204
£197
£196
Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners
£205
£153
£143
£139
£139
12
COP Paul Cruickshanks
Head of Court of Protection at A&M Bacon.
COSTS ROUND UP
Hello and welcome back to my regular round up of all things COP Costs. I am delighted to have been asked to contribute, once again,
to this publication and I hope the information provided below will be useful for deputies and practitioners within the Court of Protection alike.
I will be taking a look, this time around, at the Senior Courts Costs Office’s (SCCO’s) requirements for electronic files; looking at what you can do to assist the costs officer, what should ideally
be available on your file and how this all serves to help maximise your recovery at assessment.
A pleasing start to 2025 saw a further increase to the guideline hourly rates (2025 GHRs) and whilst modest, it is good to see increases now seem to be made on an annual basis. We will detail what the new rates are and, crucially, what you need to do to ensure you can recover them.
I will also take a look at some new developments here at A&M Bacon over the past few months and have exciting details of our new “training suite”, which is now available on our website and offers you the opportunity to obtain updated training from us.
As ever, this article will be of interest to professional deputies and/or those assisting a professional deputy and to practitioners working within the Court of Protection.
Updates to the guideline hourly rates
As detailed above, the new guideline rates came into effect on the 1 January 2025. I am sure readers will, by now, be well aware of these increases, but I thought it useful to provide a reminder of the new rates above.
Do ensure that your client care letters and/or terms of business reflect these rates to ensure you are able to recover them. Remember, even if the SCCO does not specifically request these documents for the assessment, the same should be provided as part of your assessment bundle, as good practice. Do also remember that in the event your costs become scrutinised by a third party (for example, in the event that your protected party regains capacity, or passes away), you want to be able to evidence
all steps taken to ensure appropriate costs advice was provided at the outset. The detailing of hourly rates forms an important part of this process.
It is also worthwhile bearing in mind that, for Court
of Protection cases, the highest rates we are likely to recover will be the London 2 rates. It has long been the view of the costs officers and costs judges at the SCCO that London 1 rates are specifically reserved for heavy commercial litigation work, notwithstanding where your practice might be based within Central London. Indeed, this view was upheld by the Ministry of Justice and is detailed within their 2021 review of the guideline hourly rates.
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