Costs Orders

Costs orders are another form of legal jargon.  Clients will often sit at hearings and trials and not understand whether they have "won" or what the judge has ordered on costs. It is only when the lawyer later tells the client that they start to understand what has gone on and if the judge was critical of the solicitor or barrister the client may not get the full explanation.

The judge can make whatever order they see fit.  However, this discretion must be exercised reasonably.  The judge will normally given an explanation for the order made, however it may also be clear from what has taken place before.

If the judge does not make a costs order at a hearing then, unless automatic costs provisions apply, neither side is entitled to recover their costs of the hearing.  If the hearing was the trial/final hearing then neither party will be able to recover any of the costs of the whole case.  You would be amazed at the number of people who get carried away by the proceedings and forget to even ask.

There are 2 basic types of costs orders, namely interim orders and final orders.  A final order is one that is made at a hearing or trial and is intended to deal conclusively with who should be paying the costs.  All costs orders prior to this are interim orders and usually deal with which party will recover the costs of interim hearings/applications.

When a judge makes a costs order the costs can either be assessed summarily immediately or will be deferred for detailed assessment at a later date.

Please do not forget that any costs are payable within 14 days of the order unless stated otherwise.  The fact that these may have to await a detailed assessment does not stop interest running on those costs.

The costs orders being discussed here and orders between the parties.  This means where one or other party is successful at a hearing or trial whether they should be entitled to have their costs paid by the other side and if so how much.  Charges payable by a client to their solicitor are paid pursuant to contract and are rarely dealt with during the case.

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