Guideline hourly rates 2026
Master of the RollsSir Geoffrey VosCivil Justice CouncilNews
The Master of the Rolls has announced an update to guideline hourly rates for solicitors, with effect from Thursday 1 January 2026.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, who is also the Head of Civil Justice, said: “In 2022, I requested that the Civil Justice Council take a strategic look at costs.
“I have now implemented the Council’s recommendation to update guideline hourly rates for inflation.
“In January 2024, figures were uplifted using the service producer price inflation (SPPI) figures from Q1 2022 – Q1 2023 inclusive. This amounted to a 6.66% increase.
“These figures are now to be updated using more recent SPPI values, to cover up to Q1 2025.
“The uplift from the 2025 rates to the new 2026 rates amounts to an increase of 2.28%.
“I would also like to mention that the Civil Justice Council has established a working group to examine whether guideline hourly rates can be produced for either or both of counsels’ fees and a new top rate for complex commercial work. I look forward to receiving the Civil Justice Council’s interim report on these issues later this year.”
Guideline hourly rates 2026 (with previous year’s rates in brackets)
| Grade | Fee Earner | London 1 | London 2 | London 3 | National 1 | National 2 |
| A | Solicitors and legal executives with over 8 years’ experience | £579 (£566) | £422 (£413) | £319 (£312) | £295 (£288) | £288 (£282) |
| B | Solicitors and legal executives with over 4 years’ experience | £393 (£385) | £327 (£319) | £262 (£256) | £247 (£242) | £247 (£242) |
| C | Other solicitors or legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience | £305 (£299) | £276 (£269) | £209 (£204) | £201 (£197) | £200 (£196) |
| D | Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners | £210 (£205) | £157 (£153) | £146 (£143) | £142 (£139) | £142 (£139) |