What Are the Solicitor Guideline Hourly Rates? 

Legal professionals, including solicitors, have the discretion to set their own fees, which clients are encouraged to negotiate prior to engaging their services. Nevertheless, guideline hourly rates (GHR) have been established in England and Wales for legal professionals to use as a reference point. 

The guideline hourly rates are primarily used as a starting point for summary assessment, and as a reference point in detailed assessment and when preparing costs budgets. Regardless of the rate agreed between a client and their solicitor, judges routinely use the guideline rates as their starting point when assessing what a paying party should reasonably be ordered to pay. 

The most recent updates to the guideline hourly rates took effect on 1 January 2026, following a strategic review of legal costs commissioned by the Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, in 2022. Cost lawyers, costs draftsmen, and solicitors should keep the current rates in mind when addressing retainers, costs budgets, or summary and detailed assessments, though individual cases can still justify departure from the guideline figures based on complexity and client requirements. 

Categories of the Rates 

Guideline hourly rates are split by experience of the fee earner and the geographic location. 

Fee earner grades: 

• Grade A – Solicitors and legal executives with over 8 years’ experience 

• Grade B – Solicitors and legal executives with over 4 years’ experience 

• Grade C – Other solicitors, legal executives, and fee earners of equivalent experience 

• Grade D – Trainee solicitors, paralegals, and other fee earners 

Geographic bands: 

• London 1 – Heavy commercial and corporate work in Central London 

• London 2 – City and centrally based London firms 

• London 3 – Outer London 

• National 1 – Usually inner cities 

• National 2 – Usually outer cities 

Guideline Hourly Rates from 1 January 2026 

This represents a 2.28% increase on the 2025 rates, reflecting Service Producer Price Index (SPPI) data up to Q1 2025. Notably, 2026 is the first year Grade C rates have exceeded £200 per hour across every geographic band. 

How the Rates Have Changed Since 2021 

The rates were last static between 2010 and 2021, prompting concerns that inflation has significantly eroded their value. Since the October 2021 update, the Civil Justice Council has recommended annual, inflation-linked reviews rather than the previous sporadic approach: 

• January 2024 – a 6.66% increase, based on SPPI data from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023 

• January 2025 – a further increase based on more recent SPPI data 

• January 2026 – a 2.28% increase, based on SPPI data up to Q1 2025 

The Civil Justice Council has also established a working group to examine whether guideline hourly rates should be extended to cover counsel’s fees, and whether a new top rate is needed for complex commercial work. An interim report is expected in 2026, and a more detailed structural review of the rates is expected around 2028-2029. 

Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2023] 

In the high-profile “phone hacking” litigation, Various Claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2023] EWHC 827 (SCCO), Costs Judge Rowley confirmed that guideline hourly rates should be treated as a starting point for both summary and detailed assessment, useful chiefly for judges without specialist costs experience, before accounting for the complexity, value, and importance of the case, alongside the wider proportionality of costs claimed. 

Do Solicitors Have to Follow the Guidelines? 

No. Guideline hourly rates are recommendations rather than fixed requirements, and legal professionals may charge above or below them depending on the complexity of a matter and the nature of the work involved. Courts can permit higher rates on assessment, but these remain open to challenge by the paying party and the costs judge, particularly where the rate claimed departs significantly from the current guideline figure without clear justification. 

How Can Greener Costs Assist? 

Our team of costs lawyers and costs draftsmen have many years of experience advising on disputes involving guideline hourly rates, whether you are the paying party or the receiving party. We can assess the relevant factors in your case, including complexity and fee earner experience, from the earliest stage of a dispute through to representation at detailed assessment hearings. 

If you would like to speak to a member of the team, contact Greener Costs’ costs lawyers and costs draftsmen on 01204 263047 or info@greenercosts.co.uk.