Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Wasted costs order definition

What does Wasted costs order mean? An order requiring a legal representative (for example, a solicitor, barrister or firm) personally to pay costs that have been wasted because their conduct in the litigation was improper, unreasonable or negligent. It shifts liability for unnecessary costs from the client to the lawyer whose acts or omissions caused them. In England and Wales, the jurisdiction arises under s.51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 and CPR r.46.8; the leading case Ridehalgh v Horsefield explains the three-stage approach and what amounts to improper, unreasonable or negligent conduct. The court must identify the conduct, find that it caused costs...

Wasted costs orders in England and Wales: court powers, three-stage test, principles, and liability of legal representatives and litigants in person

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Practice notes

This Practice Note examines what a wasted costs order is and the court’s power to make such an order. It also considers the relevant test and the principles the court will apply in such cases. For information on making an application for a wasted costs order, and the practical points to consider, see Practice Note: —application.

What is a wasted costs order?

A wasted costs order is described in cpr PD 46, para 5.1 as an order of the following type:

requiring a legal representative to pay a sum in respect of a party’s costs, the amount either specified by the court or left to be assessed; or
disallowing costs connected to a specified sum or particular items of work.

Such orders are not available to satisfy a disgruntled party who has been unable to obtain an effective costs order; ie they are not a back-door device to recover costs that would not otherwise be recoverable. The Court of Appeal made this plain in Ridehalgh v Horsefield (1994)...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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