detailed assessment

Of the various costs building wheezes that some claimant firms engage in, having a second (or third) junior fee earner attend conferences with Counsel, to take notes, is one of the classics. When this issue arises at detailed assessment, I know at least one costs judge who confirms that, when he was a practising solicitor, […]

We now have compulsory electronic bills of costs.  What we do not have are up to date rules relating to service. PD 47 para.5.A4, dealing with transitional provisional provisions, makes it clear that the new electronic bill must itself must be served: “Where a bill of costs otherwise falls within paragraph 5.1(a) but work was

The new electronic bill of costs is now upon us and it already causing confusion at the most basic level. Costs Lawyer magazine reports ACL council member Claire Green, who has paid a key role in the development of the new bill and as been running the ACL’s training courses on the new bill, warning:

The new electronic bill of costs becomes mandatory from 6 April 2018. The relevant transitional provisions state that where work was done both before and after 6 April 2018, a party may serve and file either a paper bill or an electronic bill in respect of work done before that date and must serve and

Two letters received from the Claimant’s solicitors, both dated 4 August 2017.  The first is a Part 36 offer.  The second attaches Replies and states: “We shall now be making a Request for a Detailed Assessment Hearing.” As the Part 36 offer was unacceptable in amount, I simply awaited receipt of a notice of hearing

I just had my first hearing dealing with an application to strike out Points of Dispute and have the Bill assessed as drawn due to an alleged failure to comply with PD 47 para.8.3: “The paying party must state in an open letter accompanying the points of dispute what sum, if any, that party offers

One of the inherent difficulties when advising defendants in relation to cost disputes is the difficult question of determining which points are worth taking and which ones are not. One costs judge’s technical dispute wholly lacking in merit is another costs judges perfectly proper challenge that will meet with success. For example, where there has

This year’s White Paper Conference Company costs conference on Costs, Funding, CFAs and Jackson was such a success it was repeated twice and sold out on both occasions almost immediately. (That’s what you get when you promote a costs event via the Legal Costs Blog.) One of the speakers, Michael Kain from costs firm Kain