An NHS trust has failed with a bid to shrink solicitors’ costs after failing to argue successfully that their expertise was not needed once counsel was instructed.

The defendant in R v Barts Health NHS Trust said the ‘baton of responsibility and importance to the claimant’ had been passed to leading and junior counsel and that the solicitors relied heavily upon the barristers’ specialist knowledge and skill to take the case forward.

Costs Judge Rowley rejected the submission, saying the hourly rates claimed were justified and that it was a ‘remarkable suggestion’ that costs could be downgraded because of the solicitor’s choice of external assistance.

He added: ‘I am clearly of the view that expertise was evident in the solicitors’ dealings with counsel. The papers reminded me of files seen where commercial law firms and leading and junior counsel are acting quickly in relation to injunctive proceedings with rapid return dates et cetera.

‘There is very much a team effort between solicitors and counsel in terms of communication with other parties, the drafting of documentation, the strategy and so on.’

The bill of costs brought before the court by the claimant arose from an order made by Mr Justice MacDonald that the trust should pay 80% of the claimant costs of judicial review proceedings. The family of schoolgirl Tafida Raqeeb, who had sustained a severe brain injury and required full-time care at the Royal London Hospital, had requested that she be transferred to a hospital in Genoa for treatment. That application was refused, and the family brought judicial review proceedings through their solicitors Irwin Mitchell, as well as separate proceedings under the Children Act 1989. The High Court ruled in October 2019 that Raqeeb could be taken to Italy to continue her treatment.

Shelina Begum and husband Mohammed Raqeeb (right) outside the Royal Courts of Justice

Tafida Raqeeb's parents Shelina Begum and Mohammed Raqeeb (right) outside the RCJ

Source: Kirsty O'Connor / Alamy

The High Court ruled in October 2019 that Tafida could be taken to Italy to continue her treatment

The solicitors, based in Manchester, claimed hourly rates of £315 for grade A fee earners, £275 for Grade B, £235 for Grade C and £140 for Grade D.

The trust sought to argue at the costs hearing that the degree of skill, responsibility and expertise reasonably required of the claimant’s solicitors was ‘minimal’. Lawyers submitted that while the case itself was grave and complex, the degree of legal complexity in the JR proceedings ‘was the sort that experienced counsel on both sides would be familiar with’.

Irwin Mitchell said the case was groundbreaking and the decision in these proceedings was ‘literally life or death’. This required the level of skill, effort and specialised knowledge of the solicitors involved.

Rowley added: ‘The solicitors not only had the requisite skill, effort and specialised knowledge and responsibility appropriate for this grave case but also demonstrated it in their dealings with counsel and other solicitors.

‘There is no warrant in my view for there to be a reduction in the hourly rates claimed simply on the basis that counsel was also involved in dealing with matters.’