Peter was a Costs Judge at the Senior Court Costs Office from 2006 to 2020 He was appointed a Deputy District Judge in 1992 and was a Deputy Cost Judge for five years. He was also Master with responsibility for Court of Protection costs at the SCCO for 14 years.
In private practice he was a solicitor and senior partner with a firm in North East Lancashire specialising in professional/clinical negligence cases and Construction disputes.
During his career he has sat with Circuit and High Court Judges in numerous appeals from first instance cost cases, firstly as a Law Society Assessor and latterly in his role as a Cost Judge.
He is a former member of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee and Cost Rules subcommittee charged with implementing the Woolf reforms. He was a tutor at the Judicial College, has lectured frequently at costs conferences, seminars and written extensively on costs issues over the years.
In addition, Peter has experience in disciplinary and regulatory matters having been Chairman and member of various Tribunals including the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. He also has experience in dealing with costs issues in other jurisdictions having been appointed a Lieutenant Bailiff of Guernsey and advisor to the Guernsey Legal Aid Board.
On his retirement from the SCCO he remains a Deputy District Judge. He is a panel member of CADR and is available for Arbitrations, Mediations, Expert Determinations and Early Neutral Evaluations in Costs and other commercial disputes.
Other Ex Judiciary Panel Members
Colin Campbell
Colin Campbell was a Costs Judge at the Royal Courts of Justice from 1996 to 2015, also a Costs Officer of the UK Supreme Court and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council from 2010 to 2015.
Mark Gosnell
Mark Gosnell served as a Senior Circuit Judge and Designated Civil Judge for Leeds and North Yorkshire, with section 9 authorisation to sit as a High Court Judge.
Peter Hurst
Peter Hurst LLB MPhil FCIArb was the Senior Costs Judge of England & Wales at the Royal Courts of Justice from 1992 to 2014, author of Civil Costs and Criminal Costs.
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