Lord Justice Jackson has given his clearest hint yet that he is minded to end the recoverability of success fees when he makes his final recommendations to reform civil litigation costs.

Speaking at the Sweet & Maxwell conditional fee agreement conference last week, Jackson asked for help in calculating the level to which general damages would have to increase to compensate for ending recoverability and returning to the old 25% cap on the amount of damages a lawyer could take.

Barrister Alexander Hutton of Hailsham Chambers estimated that damages would have to double at least, given the high level of costs in personal injury (PI) cases as they approach trial.

Delegates said that they would be unhappy about taking a portion of damages from injured clients, an argument Jackson acknowledged.

Former defendant insurance solicitor Jason Rowley, now chief executive of 12 King’s Bench Walk, London, questioned why PI should be different from other cases, where solicitors have no problem taking a cut of damages. Leading claimant lawyer David Marshall, managing partner of south London firm Anthony Gold, said recoverability was part of the deal for removing legal aid in personal injury.

There was no opposition to the idea of ending recoverability in defamation cases, although in a straw poll delegates voted overwhelmingly to retain juries despite the costs that abolition would save.