Legal Costs Services
The legal costs lanscape, has always, and continues, to change at a pace unlike any other legal environment. Case law, rules and practices are constantly evolving. We are always abreast of the changes and that knowledge and advice ensures the most advantageous and costs effective outcomes for our clients.
Bill of Costs
We can produce any of the various formats of bills of costs and can accept files in both papers and electronically via both zipped files and/or a file sharing platform. We take great care to ensure bills are accurate and include all reasonable fees and disbursements to maximise the level of recoverability
Statements of Costs
As with any bills of costs, we ensure accuracy of our statements of costs so clients can certify with confidence that costs are being correctly claimed. N260’s can be produced for all applications and interlocutory hearings, trials or as a cheaper alternative to full bills of costs at conclusion.
Costs Budgets & Budget Discussion Reports
The importance of getting budgeting right is paramount. The courts are becoming less and less inclined to allow variations and departures for ‘good reasons’. We provide accurate and properly thought out budgets to ensure that both incurred and future costs are not missed and that the key issue of proportionality is integral to our focus throughout.
Likewise, our review of an opponent’s budget and subsequent production of a budget discussion report is a considered process to ensure that unreasonable and disproptionate costs cannot be recovered by them and that the nature of the disputes are not counter-productive to our client’s own budget.
Points of Dispute & Replies
Whether we are instructed to prepare a set of points of dispute to reduce or limit a client’s liability for an opponent’s costs or to produce a set of replies to a set of points of dispute to pursuasively reinforce the reasonableness of a bill of costs, we do so concisely, realistically and professionally. We do not take points that will undermine our client’s credibility, or the rest of the document, at any future court hearing.
Advocacy
We have always believed that advocacy, whether it be attending court, settlement meetings or mediations on our client’s behalf, is a skill. It is crucial to the result and all of the best advocates are hugely experienced having learned over time the most effective way of getting their arguments across. We have 25 years of experience of attending detailed assessments, costs case management hearings, joint settlement meetings and mediations. We are comfortable in the knowledge that we possess the skills required and allied to full and proper preparation, that we will do everything we can to ensure the best result possible.
Mediation
Our principal, has been a qualified mediator for 10 years. He has mediated on various disputes and always successfully. There are very few disputes that cannot be successfully mediated and that is why the parties exploration of these forms of alternative dispute resolution is now required in any litigation prior to trial.
The risks and costs of litigation are both hugely stressful and expensive and mediation offers a very genuine way out of the maze. Resolving disputes allows parties to move on and it is something we are extremely passionate about.