Question 1 of 10

One of your regular instructing solicitors contacts your clerk in relation to the possibility of instructing you to attend a civil fast track trial with a value of £12,000. You are aware that, upon success, the court is likely to order the other side to pay fixed fast track trial costs, to cover your attendance and preparation, in the sum of £1035.00. In fact, there is very little discretion for the court to order less than the fixed trial costs as set out in the Civil procedure Rules. However, your solicitor has asked you to conduct the trial for a fee of £750, meaning that there could be a potential excess of £285 in costs paid by the other side to your solicitor, in the event that your client is successful at trial. Which of the following best represents how you should act?

A. You should agree to accept the instructions for a fee of £750 because it is in the client’s best interests to limit the potential costs exposure in the event that they lose. It is for the solicitor and client to agree between them what is to happen to any excess, in the event of success at trial. B. You should not agree to accept the instructions to act for a fee of £750 unless you are satisfied that any excess costs awarded, over and above your agreed fee, are to be credited to the client. To do otherwise would likely result in your solicitor receiving a prohibited referral fee. C. You must not agree to accept the instructions for a fee of less than the fixed recoverable costs because, to do so would mean that you are not being properly remunerated. This is a ground upon which you should refuse to accept the instructions. D. You should agree to accept the instructions for a fee of £750 if you think that it is a reasonable sum of money for the amount of work involved. It is a matter for your independent judgment whether you consider the remuneration to be adequate.