New Electronic Bill of Costs

March 27, 2024

New Electronic Bill of Costs

The new electronic bill of costs (Precedent S), proposed by LJ Jackson in his Final Report back in 2009 comes into effect from 6 April 2018.

The new bill takes the form of a spreadsheet which can be manipulated by the parties and judge during the assessment proceedings to instantly determine the outcomes of adjustments/decisions made.

It is compulsory for work undertaken in all Part 7 multi-track claims from 6 April 2018 (unless fixed costs apply, the receiving party is unrepresented or the court orders otherwise), but work undertaken prior can still be presented in the older paper format bill (Precedent A).

Whilst bills have been separated by Budget Phase for some years now, the new bill requires costs to be split by Task and Activity as well (e.g. Task – Factual Investigations and Activity – Attendance on client). The separation of time between Tasks and Activities at the time recording stage can make the time capture process more onerous. For example:

Old bill:

Phase 5 (Witness evidence)

Preparing for and attending witness, including traveling to/from, preparation of the first draft and sending to counsel for comment – 5 hours

= 1 entry

New bill:

Phase 5 (Witness evidence)

Task 13 (Taking, preparing and finalising witness statements)

Activity 10 Preparing for attendance

Activity 9 Travel to/from witness

Activity 4 Attending witness

Activity 10 Drafting witness statement

Activity 2 Communicating with counsel

= 5 entries

We have advised clients in implementing new time recording methods to facilitate the transition to recording by Phase, Task and Activity, and have prepared bills of costs in the new format for clients who record at the Task & Activity levels, and those who do not.

Link to Precedent S

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/pdf/update/precedent-s-blank-template.xlsx