Lord Goldring, the senior presiding judge of England and Wales, has warned expert witnesses against 'padding out' their charges to compensate for new hourly rates. They could face fixed fees if they are found to be doing so, he told the 18th annual Bond Solon Expert Witness Conference on 9 November.

Lord Goldring told the conference that, since the Government's attempt to save on experts' fees, which cost £160m in 2011, "...the number of hours worked per case has increased significantly".

He added: "The cynics out there may conclude that some people are padding it out to get the same fees they got before." If it were true, he said, it could lead Government to introduce some kind of fixed-fee system.

The claim, reported by the Law Society Gazette, was immediately attacked by experts. Commenting on the Gazette report, one expert demanded to see the evidence of increased hours. She quoted the Norgrave Family Justice Report, which accused the Ministry of Justice and Legal Services Commission of a lack of systematic collection of information. Other experts pointed out that many had previously not logged all the hours worked but were now more assiduous in claiming what they were entitled to because of the cut in hourly rate.

In the same keynote speech Lord Goldring also said that ‘hot-tubbing’ will become available in all civil proceedings from April. It follows a generally successful pilot in Manchester Technology and Construction Court last year.