Changes to Guideline Hourly Rates Approved
Written by May Martin.
The Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, has accepted a change to the Guideline Hourly Rates. The change is planned to take effect from 1 October 2021.
The changes to the hourly rates were recommended by the Civil Justice Council’s working group, who collected data between September and November 2020. The suggested new rates were consulted on between January and March 2021. A draft revised Guide has been produced by the Civil Justice Council and can be found by following the link at the bottom of the page. A final Guide will be published shortly.
The new Guideline Hourly Rates are as follows:
Grade | Fee Earner | London 1 | London 2 | London 3 | National 1 | National 2 |
A | Solicitors and legal executives with over 8 years’ experience | £512 | £373 | £282 | £261 | £255 |
B | Solicitors and legal executives with over 4 years’ experience | £348 | £289 | £232 | £218 | £218 |
C | Other solicitors or legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience | £270 | £244 | £185 | £178 | £177 |
D | Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners | £186 | £139 | £129 | £126 | £126 |
Band | Area | Postcodes |
London 1 | Very heavy commercial and corporate work by centrally based London firms | Not restricted to any particular London postcode |
London 2 | City & Central London – other work | EC1-EC4, W1, WC1, WC2 and SW1 |
London 3 | Outer London | All other London Boroughs, plus Dartford & Gravesend |
National 1:
- The counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire (& Isle of Wight), Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, East Sussex, West Sussex, Suffolk, Surrey and Wiltshire
- Birkenhead, Birmingham Inner, Bristol, Cambridge City, Cardiff Inner, Leeds Inner (within 2km of City Art Gallery), Liverpool, Manchester Central, Newcastle City Centre (within 2m of St Nicholas Cathedral), Norwich City, Nottingham City and Watford.
National 2:
All places not included in London 1-3 and National 1.
Guide to the summary assessment of costs 2021 (judiciary.uk)
