Judges have taken another scythe to claimant costs in the ’dieselgate’ group claim after dismissing the idea that 30 fee earners may need to attend court.
Mrs Justice Cockerill DBE, sitting alongside Senior Costs Judge Rowley, said today the idea that so many lawyers should be present for the pre-trial review and the trial itself was a ‘frankly remarkable proposition’.
The lead solicitors in the £6bn collective action are Pogust Goodhead and Leigh Day, with 16 separate manufacturers defending claims over the alleged sale of diesel cars fitted with software to subvert emissions control regulations. The costs have already become a major area of contention, with senior judges last year slashing the claimants’ budget from £208m to £52m and the defendants’ budget from £212m to £114m.
Today’s judgment in Various Claimants v Mercedes-Benz Group AG & Ors related to a second and third tranche of costs associated with the claims.
Claimant lawyers had told the court that nine fee earners were the ‘core team’ who would be present at court. The remaining 21 would be remote but with the benefit of the real time transcription. This arrangement, noted the judges, was explained by counsel with ‘an admirably straight face’ to be necessary in order to deal imminently with any matters arising.
‘Such an approach is plainly not realistic: nine members of a team should be more than ample to deal with any points arising and the need for any “full time” remote attendance is hard to discern,’ said the judges. ‘It will come as no surprise to any party that the budget for attendance at these hearings has been considerably reduced.’
Another area of judicial concern was in the £40,000 sought for each fortnightly meeting leading up to trial. There were 10 meetings planned, each lasting for 45 minutes.
The judges outlined how a total of 84 hours were claimed for preparation, attendance and follow-ups from these meetings, in what they described as a ‘collision between over analysis of process and over lawyering’. The claims included seven hours of partner time in preparing to talk to the other side about what had happened in the last week.
‘Despite the worthwhile nature of these meetings, it is clear that (if the estimates genuinely represent reality) they have become over engineered,’ said the judges.
Overall for these tranches, claimants’ claimed costs of around £75m were cut back to around £22.5m. Defendants’ costs were brought down from £79m to £49m.
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