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Costs body may hold remote hearings

The Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators has outlined how it will operate under the restrictions introduced under level five of the Government’s COVID-19 plan.

A notice from Chief Adjudicator Paul Behan, published on the Courts Service website, said the general office would be closed to members of the public, except by appointment for urgent business only.

Remote call over

Drop box facilities are available in its office at Merchants House to facilitate the physical submission of documents.

The e-filing platform for the lodgment of applications for adjudication will continue to operate as normal through CSOL for registered users.

A remote call over of cases, which is held each Thursday during the law term at 9.30am, will continue to take place. This will call over cases listed for the following week.

Remote hearings

The notice said some cases would be suitable for a remote hearing, and this would be decided on a case-by-case basis at the sole discretion of the Legal Costs Adjudicator.

The adjudicator also has the right to terminate such hearings if the process cannot be undertaken fairly or may have the potential to impede due process or the application of the provisions of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

Parties and their legal representatives are being asked to closely monitor the Legal Diary and the Courts Service website for more detail on all lists. The notice warns that this guidance may be subject to change.