This section deals with the rates that are normally allowed for solicitors' profit costs on “between the parties” summary assessment. This applies to all cases/hearings that last less than a day, where the Court is asked to assess how much one party should pay towards the other party's legal costs.
The person dealing with the case does not necessarily have to be qualified as a solicitor and the guidelines set out various rates for grades based around the experience of the person dealing with the matter. Surprisingly for such a clear set of definitions there are still regular cases of people claiming they are a higher grade than they actually are. Part of the difficulty is that any costs schedule produced requires the solicitors to confirm they have not charged more than their client is liable to pay and not that the contents of the schedule are accurate in all respects.
The first job before assessment commences is to identify the guideline rates for the areas of cost in your case and these might include:
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It is worth noting that the solicitor grades are based on experience and not status. "Legal Executives" for this purpose means Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives, who are members of the Institute of Legal Executives who have completed at least 5 years on the job work experience as well as passing the exams. They have F Inst LEx after their name and are a category of lawyer. If the person you are dealing with says they are a Legal Executive without these initials after their name, they are probably a member of the Institute only, are breaking their rules by not advising you of this and are classed as para legals. If you would like to check the status of a person describing themselves as a Legal Executive you can access the online directory.