Description
Signature on a costs budget by a costs draughtsman is an irregularity but does not render the budget a ity.
The Defendant ('D') filed a costs budget that was fully compliant save that it was signed by a costs draughtsman rather than a senior legal representative as required by CPR, PD 3E. The Third Party ('3P') argued that the non-compliance rendered the budget a ity and that CPR, r.3.14 should apply to limit D's budget to only the applicable court fees.
The court agreed that the costs draughtsman could not be regarded as a senior legal representative within the meaning of PD 3E. Further, costs draughtsman was not in a position to verify that the provision of resources in the budget was reasonable. The fact the costs draughtsman had signed the budget was an irregularity but it did not render the budget a ity. The just and proportionate response was to require D to remedy the budget with 3P to be compensated for the cost of bringing the matter to the court's attention
