Counsel's fees

Studying the History of Legal Costs

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When assessing the reasonableness of Counsel’s fees, can the courts look at the other side’s fee as a guide?

Simpsons Motor Sales (London)Ltd -v- Hendon Corporation [1964] 3 All ER 833

The court might consider the opponent’s brief fee but such a comparison is not always a definitive guide.

Hornsby -v- Clarke Kenneth Leventhall [2000] 4 All ER 567

The Court considered that the other side’s fees paid to Counsel was “certainly a factor of weight”. However, “... there is no exact figure that can be said to represent the proper fee... it is not a sound principle of taxation to treat the fee paid by the other company as the appropriate yardstick”.