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Actually anon @ 16:40 it can be useful. There may be no possible way of knowing how long something is going to take but if you have 2 equally reputable firms and they both publish their hourly rates with firm X being £400 p/h and firm Y being £300 p/h it can already be seen from by Mr Joe blogs that reputable firm Y is the one to go with.

Those that are really resistant to this are the ones that are using secrecy to stop a potential Clients shopping around and causing them to have to suffer what are, in many circumstances, disgusting rates because the average Client off of the street does not know any better as to what a reasonable hourly rate is.

It would also name and shame those firms, a lot of them based in certain areas, who have been charging ridiculous rates in costs budgets etc. because if Clients knew up front what they would be charged per hour they would not be used, which in turn might bring a bit more decency to the profession, personal injury in particular. It is the ridiculous charging and bills of costs that has helped bring about cost budgeting and further fixed costs, much to the distress of the Claimant Solicitors that have behaved well over the years and have not been avaricious.

It is not just the insurers' behaviour that needs to be altered but the greedy elements (not at all of them by a long stretch) of the Claimant industry. Publishing just the hourly rates might be a small step towards that and putting out some of the flames the insurers are fanning.