Lappet Manufacturing Company v London Textile Industries [2022] EWHC 2158 (Ch)
In this short judgment on costs and consequentials, Adam Johnson J considered the guideline hourly rates for solicitors in specialist intellectual property proceedings, observing the need for a “clear and compelling justification” to exceed those guideline hourly rates (see Males LJ in Samsung v LG Display [2022] EWCA Civ 466).
The Judge considered the complexity of the issues which arose in the substantive applications, and held that “a departure from the Guideline Rates is justified on the basis of the long-established principle that specialist solicitors in specialist areas of activity should recover an uplift to reflect that specialism, where that is justified in the circumstances..”.
Christopher Hall represented the Defendants.