New rules provide for County Court costs to be taxed in the Costs Court under the Supreme Court Scale of Costs that operates by reference to hourly rates from 1 January 2025.
Costs in the County Court are dealt with under Order 63 of the County Court Civil Procedure Rules 2018, which now adopts the Scale of Costs in Schedule 1 of Appendix A to the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015.
In most cases, the parties will agree on the amount of costs to be paid. If they do not agree, the dispute is referred to the Costs Court.
The scale is based principally on time costing. If a client has been charged on the basis of hourly rates for work done, Section 1 of the Scale applies and provides that the costs payable to the entitled party are to be allowed on the basis of reasonable hourly rates, up to the maximum hourly rate set out in the scale. There are 3 tiers of maximum rates according to a practitioner’s years of post-admission experience. There are no minimum rates.
Section 1 also sets out maximum hourly rates for work done by employees of a law practice who are not legal practitioners. The maximum rates for those employees depend on whether their work required legal skill or knowledge.
All claims must be reasonable. In setting rates to be charged to clients, and in making costs claims, practitioners must observe their overarching obligation to ensure that costs are reasonable and proportionate under s 24 of the Civil Procedure Act 2010.
The time-based model does not mean that a law practice must charge their clients on an hourly basis. The scale also provides for assessment of costs where the entitled party has not been charged on the basis of hourly rates. In such a case, the Costs Court will allow a reasonable amount for the work.
See the By Lawyers County Court (VIC) and Supreme Court (VIC) publications for more information.