How Much Does it Cost to Sue Someone?
The cost of suing someone varies greatly. Much will depend on the nature of the dispute, the attitude of the parties involved, and the steps taken to resolve the dispute. For example:
who are you suing? Will they fight back tooth and nail, or will they admit some or all of the claim?
how good is your claim? Is it a slam dunk which will not require much explanation, or will you have to go into much more nuanced and intricate detail in order to explain it to the court?
what type of claim do you have? Is it a claim for breach of contract, where everything is very clearly set out in writing and there are good quality documents proving the breach, or is it something that will need lots of expert and fact witness evidence?
There are, however, several categories of cost which are normally incurred by construction litigants, and these can be considered cumulatively to provide an indication of the magnitude of costs associated (solely) with construction litigation.
Solicitors’ Fees
Solicitors’ fees vary by location, seniority, and specialism. HM Courts Service published guideline hourly rates in 2010 which provided that City of London solicitors might reasonably be expected to charge £409 per hour.
These rates are published to assist the courts during costs taxation on a summary basis, but the courts recognise that “An hourly rate in excess of the guideline figures may be appropriate for Grade A fee earners in substantial and complex litigation where other factors, including the value of the litigation, the level of complexity, the urgency or importance of the matter as well as any international element would justify a significantly higher rate to reflect higher average costs”.
Barristers’ Fees
Often, solicitors will seek the assistance of barristers, either for specialist advice or for their oral advocacy abilities. Guideline figures are available for junior counsels’ fees based on the Supreme Court Costs Office statistics dealing with what were described as “run of the mill proceedings”, but not on an hourly-rate basis.
Instead, the guidelines suggest that for preparation and attendance of a short hearing in the High Court Queen’s Bench Division (within which the Technology and Construction Court sits), an experienced junior barrister might reasonably be expected to charge a fixed sum of £1,164.
This is, however, unlikely to be the fee charged to the client. When working on an hourly rate, a reputation construction barrister who is senior (but not a KC) is more likely to charge in the region of £350 per hour. An experienced construction KC might charge in the region of £650 per hour.
Expert Witnesses’ Fees
Then there are expert witness fees, which are often incurred in construction disputes from an early stage. Once again, fees vary considerably, and there are no guidelines published by the courts as to what might be considered reasonable for the purposes of summary assessment.
However, a 2015 survey of UK expert witnesses suggests that experts involved in construction might be expected to charge (on average) between £142 and £241 per hour, and between £1,074 and £1,833 per day for court hearings. That data is close to 10 years out of date, and so is now long out of date. Expert fees nowadays will be higher.
Court Fees
In addition to the costs of those who participate, court fees are payable. These are fixed sums paid to the court, intended to contribute towards the court’s costs such as paying the judges and staff, and providing the court rooms.
Court fees vary, depending on the nature of the matter for which the fee is charged. Simply issuing a claim – the very first step in the litigation process – can cost as much as £10,000.
In addition, a hearing fee – payable before the court will allow the parties to appear in court – is likely to be as much as £1,090 on top of the issue fee for a construction case heard in the High Court.
Other Legal Costs
Then, of course, there are inevitably administrative costs associated with telephone calls, photocopying, travelling to meetings and the like, not to mention the opportunity costs. These are impossible to quantify, even indicatively, but they should certainly not be dismissed as trivial.
In Multiplex v Cleveland Bridge [2008] EWHC 2220 – a well-known case concerning the construction of the new Wembley stadium – the parties were noted to have spent more than £1,000,000 on photocopying alone. The value of the claim was only £22,000,000, meaning that the photocopying bill was a large proportion of what was to be gained for the litigation.
Summary
In short, predicting how much it will cost to sue someone is very hard for any particular case, and it is impossible to give figures that apply to all cases.
However, whilst it can be very expensive to sue someone, there are things which can be done to help keep costs under control.
If you would like to gain a better understanding of the likely costs of your claim, click here to contact Hamshaw. We may be able to offer fixed fees for specific stages of work. We will always be upfront and transparent about our fees, and we will do all that we can to recover as much of your costs as possible from the person you are suing.