New York beats London on Commercial Court fees

Some parties taking action in the London Commercial Court will be paying ten times as much in court fees as those in New York after the UK government decided to put the fees up.

22 January 2015

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While New York charges under £1,000 for a £500,000 claim, the cost for a similar case in the UK is set to rise to £10,000. Judges in the UK have said that the rise - which will peak at a 622 per cent hike for certain cases - could undermine the English capital as a place to decide legal battles. Adam Marshall of the British Chambers of Commerce said: 'We remain concerned that a lot of companies in supply chains could be dissuaded from using the courts to resolve long running late payment disputes.'

Fraction of total costs

UK Justice Minister Shailesh Vara said: 'Court fees are not a decisive factor when people choose to litigate as they represent a small fraction of the overall costs of litigation. We are confident London will retain its position as the preferred legal centre for the world’s leading businesses.' Source: Financial Times