Report comment

Thanks for an interesting and thought-provoking article.

However, one problem with the concept of spending £100,000 to recover £10,000 is that it would be inherently irrational because of the virtual impossibility of recovering the full £100,000 even if the claim succeeded.

With even the old fashioned standard costs order the litigant would do well to recover £80,000 form a £100,000 bill, meaning he would be automatically out of pocket (assuming you discount the possibility of the solicitor writing off the irrecoverable costs). So even under the previous system the costs could be said to be disproportionate.