Costs ...... vary a lot but we usually advise clients to budget around ?3,000-6,000 plus VAT for the permission stage. It can be lower - but seldom less than ?1,500. Larger and more complex cases can take up much more time and therefore cost a lot more.
These costs get you to the stage of the judge deciding on paper whether you have permission to proceed or not.
If you are refused permission but renew to an oral hearing, the costs of this will normally be in the region of ?3,000 to ?4,000 plus VAT including counsel's fees. Rules of court make it unlikely that you will be exposed to the other side's costs even if they turn up and successfully oppose you at the oral hearing. However you are exposed to the costs that the defending party has been put to in providing written so-called "summary grounds for contesting the claim". We have experience of a huge variability in the level of what other parties claim and can give you more detailed advice if required, but amounts actually awarded should be relatively small. It is sensible to budget a figure in the ?1,000-3,000 bracket.
Once permission is granted, we normally estimate the costs from then on to the conclusion of a one-day hearing in the High Court at ?10,000-15,000 plus VAT for each side. It can [be] less than this range, and sometimes much more, but this is a useful guide. The exact amount will again depend upon many factors, including what the other side says by way of evidence, what level of barristers are used and the complexity of the issues. For example, use of a QC in addition to one's junior barrister will increase costs to considerably above that bracket. The level of costs is something to keep under continual review.
