Master of the rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos has announced a 3.65% increase to hourly rates in line with inflation. This has now come into effect from the 1 January 2025.
The 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 | £566 | £413 | £312 | £288 | £282 |
| B | Solicitors and legal executives with over 4 years’ experience | £385 | £319 | £256 | £242 | £242 |
| C | Other solicitors or legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience | £299 | £269 | £204 | £197 | £196 |
| D | Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners | £205 | £153 | £143 | £139 | £139 |
It is worth bearing in mind that the Civil Justice Council is investigating guidelines relating to counsel fees and a new top tier rate for complex commercial work, which interestingly will apply to the complexity of the work itself rather than the location of the firm.
Commentary:
- The increase in hourly rates are not automatic and you will not be able to automatically recover higher hourly rates in line with the indemnity principle. It is imperative therefore to assess the hourly rates currently agreed with clients within retainers and to advise the client if you want to increase the same. Too often do solicitors fail to review their retainers to increase their hourly rates in line the above increases.
- It is worth keeping in mind that these are ‘guideline rates’ and in more complex litigation, the rates allowed for above will attract an enhancement.
- There is significant critique whether in view of the difference between band 1 and 2 rates remaining so negligible, that they should simply be merged.
- The above rates only account for inflation up to 31 March 2024. Inflation post Q1 will be captured in future annual uplifts. We therefore suspect there will be potential arguments that the 2025 should apply to work done from April 2023 onwards.