Calls for a costs revolution

Mostyn J’s recent judgment of J v J [2014] EWHC 3654 (Fam), [2014] All ER (D) 153 (Nov) seems expressly aimed to provoke discussion among the family law profession. His comments on the failures of the lawyers involved to follow the new rules on both the instruction of single joint experts (PD25D) and hearing bundles (PD27A) are a stand-alone matter worth serious consideration. However, the more controversial discussion about disproportionate legal costs and how solicitors charge for their services is the focus of this article.

For those who have not read the case, in essence £920,000 or 31.9% of the matrimonial assets (£2,885,000) were spent on legal costs and expert fees. Mostyn J’s outrage that a seemingly straightforward case incurred such breathtakingly high fees is patent. However, Mostyn J does not limit his concern to the parties involved in J v J itself, but to the family law profession as a whole. He declares [paras 11 &