A leading specialist costs law firm is warning that moves within the legal profession to overhaul the way in which costs are submitted could be fraught with problems.

The voluntary adoption of so-called J-Codes has already begun, and the profession will migrate towards the new style bill of costs, due for adoption within the SCCO in October 2016. The intention of the new system is to enable both judges and costs judges to summarise and analyse time spent and costs incurred during a case.

But, while the theory behind the move is sensible, there are many pitfalls, as US practitioners have subsequently discovered. “The aim is to reduce the amount of costs incurred in preparing a Bill of Costs at the conclusion of the case”, explains Joe Rose, Senior Costs Lawyer at A&M Bacon. “The J-codes are based on the ‘UTBMS Codes’, which have been in place in the US for 20 years now.”

“However, many in the US now believe that the UTBMS Codes should be dispensed with altogether, because their lack of consistency has resulted in a significant amount of wasted time and the resulting data being of little use due to a lack of consistency,” he advises.

“One American Legal Auditor estimates that 90% of US lawyers were using the system at the outset, but that this percentage is down to 10% today. Many in the US now believe that the UTBMS Codes should be dispensed with altogether, “ explains Rose.

“If UK firms are going to use the codes, either the fee earner themselves or an experienced costs expert needs to be inputting the codes. But, it doesn’t make commercial sense for fee earners to do this, as they can claim a higher hourly rate for fee earning work. This is why costs experts are the perfect solution, with lower hourly rates matched to greater expertise,” explains Rose.

“A&M Bacon has spent many months working with its existing clients, preparing them for these changes. Moreover, we have invested heavily in IT and staff training, as well as arranging to visit clients to keep the codes up to date. Of course, for clients not wishing to implement J-Codes, we will still be preparing bills and budgets in the normal format. This will ensure that clients are not disadvantaged, regardless of which system they choose to adopt,” concludes Rose.

For further advice on J-Codes and any matters relating to costs, practitioners are urged to contact Joe directly, either on 02038 239 980 or at joe.rose@aandmbacon.co.uk.