A recent edition of Costs Lawyer magazine contained an interview with the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen’s new chairman Iain Stark. In the interview he argues for costs lawyers to reclaim advocacy work on the basis that: “We created the mini costs industry for barristers. That was our own fault, predominantly because we didn’t have […]
Costs Counsel v Costs Lawyer Read More »
A further definition from The (Alternative) Legal Costs Dictionary: Law costs draftsman n. a lawyer concerned with quantifying the legal costs of a case. A costs draftsman is to the legal profession what a train spotter is to the world of professional sportsmen. Similar to an accountant but without the glamour or dress sense.
Law costs draftsman Read More »
I am going to do something that does not come naturally to me. I have going to admit I was wrong. Worse than that, I am going to have to admit to being wrong about three things. This whole process is so traumatic that I am going to have to stagger this over several days.
The internet contains an enormous amount of legal costs law information, much of it free. Unfortunately, it tends to be scattered throughout the web or buried deep within specialist sites. Wouldn’t it be great if all this information could be easily accessed? Well, of course it would be which is why the Legal Costs Blog
Legal Costs Central Read More »
A number of readers no doubt work in the area of RTA claims. Some at the front-end of the claims process dealing with the substantive claim, others at the tail-end of the costs side. Hopefully, those readers will therefore be aware that we have a new claims process for low value RTAs starting on 6
Costs draftsmen's late Christmas present Read More »
The 2010 edition of the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen’s diary contains advertisements from six barristers’ chambers holding themselves out as specialists in legal costs matters. Five of these give the names of the barristers in their costs teams. The number of named individuals totals 49. There are a number of other chambers who have
Specialist costs counsel Read More »
I recently came across a job advertisement for a trainee costs draftsman with the following wording: “Are you seeking a career option that is secure? Would you like to work in a niche market? Would you like to work in the field of Law Costs?”. Secure? Have I missed something?
Costs draftsman – A secure career Read More »
I recently received a telephone message asking if my firm did pro bono work. (The answer is “no”, by the way.) But this did cause me to pause for thought as it coincided with a report in the Law Society Gazette that: “The value of pro bono work done annually by lawyers has soared to
Pro bono legal costs work Read More »
The Law Gazette has reported the case of a Norfolk solicitor who charged clients based on the weight of their files, “by weighing the files in his hand”, and was struck off after a hearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. You mean there’s another way to cost a file?
The art of good law costs drafting Read More »
A recent article in the Evening Standard (click link) newspaper reported on the spread of the “Jedhead”. This is the sticky-uppy hairstyle sported by Jedward, the twins from the X Factor. The article claimed the “style crosses boundaries of age, gender, sexuality and taste”. I have no problem accepting the first three in the list
Jedhead v Horsehair wigs Read More »
