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In English law, a law costs draftsman is a specialist lawyer who settles the legal costs of a court case. The role of the law costs draftsman centres on a procedure known as the detailed assessment of costs, which is controlled by statute in England and Wales. They are concerned with costs relating to all areas of the law and deal with every conceivable type of legal matter that touches upon the subject of costs. An experienced and competent law costs professional may command a salary on a par with that of a solicitor or legal executive, with regulated individuals attaining the qualification and status of a regulated Costs Lawyer.
The unsuccessful litigant is usually ordered to pay the successful litigant’s costs ( inter partes costs) and, if those costs cannot be agreed, a detailed bill of costs is prepared and served. The paying party then has to serve a schedule of points of those items in the bill he wishes to dispute before the bill is lodged at court and a detailed assessment hearing takes place at which the points are argued and a decision made by the court. A law costs draftsman can be involved in all the necessary procedural steps for either party and can also be involved in preparing case budgets.
Solicitor's fees are costs payable by a client to his own solicitor. Different rules apply to the costs where court proceedings have been commenced, known as contentious business, to those applicable to non-contentious matters such as conveyancing, probate and general advice. A client who is unhappy with his solicitor’s bill has remedies available if he wishes to challenge it. If either the client or the solicitor is dissatisfied with the outcome of that request or if the bill relates to contentious business, either the client or the solicitor may apply to the court for the bill to be assessed. A law costs draftsman may be instructed to prepare a detailed bill of costs for assessment, to advise on law and procedure and, subsequently, if instructed by a solicitor or a litigant, to argue in support or to oppose the bill.
Where a solicitor is representing a publicly funded client, a detailed bill is usually required to be assessed either by the court or the Legal Aid Agency before payment can be made out of the community legal fund to the solicitor. Whilst such bills are usually assessed without any formal hearing, if an amount has been disallowed in respect of which the solicitor wishes to object, an appointment can be obtained and the matter argued at a hearing. In criminal cases, the objections to an amount disallowed are usually made in writing and, often, a law costs draftsman will be instructed to prepare the written submissions.
Where a case is publicly funded, costs must be assessed and approved before the legal aid can be paid to the solicitor representing the legal aid client. If the total amount claimed is less than £2500 then a CLAIM 1 form is prepared by the costs draftsman and assessed by the Legal Aid Agency. Where costs exceed £2500 a bill of costs, similar in format to that prepared for detailed assessment of inter partes costs, is prepared and this is assessed by the Court before being paid by the Agency.
A Costs Draftsman is not regulated and therefore cannot independently attest to the accuracy of costs documents (such as a Bill of Costs) and does not have rights of audience in Court, unless they have delegated supervision from a regulated individual, such as a Solicitor or Legal Executive (CILEX).
The requirement to attend court to oppose or support a bill of costs may however, arise in any of the above three categories. Members of the Association who are qualified as costs lawyers have a right of audience and are entitled to appear as an advocate in relation to disputes as to costs. In addition under the Civil Procedure Rules 1999, a Fellow of the Association may be instructed as an expert by a litigant in person to advise on aspects of costs law and the litigant may recover any reasonable fees thereby incurred if he is awarded costs in his favour. Higher value matters are generally referred to Regional Costs Judges. Claims based in London are referred to the Senior Courts Costs Office (previously named the Supreme Court Costs Office).
Law costs draftsmen must be skilled in the application of the statutory law relating to legal costs, and be familiar with the system of legal fees. For this reason, many firms of litigation solicitors retain law costs draftsmen as employees. Others rely on the services of dedicated costs drafting organisations and independent draftsmen.
Since 1 January 2007, by virtue of the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen Order 2006, the ALCD has been capable of granting rights of audience to its members. [1] In 2007, in light of the procurement of rights of audience, the ALCD has bestowed the title of "costs lawyer" upon all Fellows of the Association who have successfully completed a designated advocacy course. Such rights have considerably enhanced the status and reputation of those in the profession who have qualified as costs lawyers.
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialize in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giving legal opinions.
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, in Scottish, Manx, South African, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Polish, Israeli, South Asian and South American jurisdictions, "advocate" indicates a lawyer of superior classification.
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to practise there as such. For example, in England and Wales a solicitor is admitted to practise under the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974. With some exceptions, practising solicitors must possess a practising certificate. There are many more solicitors than barristers in England; they undertake the general aspects of giving legal advice and conducting legal proceedings.
In English civil litigation, costs are the lawyers' fees and disbursements of the parties.
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant or paralegal specialist, is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for paralegals is broad, including consultancies, companies that have legal departments or that perform legislative and regulatory compliance activities in areas such as environment, labor, intellectual property, zoning, and tax. Legal offices and public bodies also have many paralegals in support activities using other titles outside of the standard titles used in the profession. There is a diverse array of work experiences attainable within the paralegal field, ranging between internship, entry-level, associate, junior, mid-senior, and senior level positions.
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial. This article describes the development of legal aid and its principles, primarily as known in Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and in the United States.
In England and Wales, a litigant in person is an individual, company or organisation that has rights of audience and is not represented in a court of England and Wales by a solicitor or barrister. Instructing a barrister and not a solicitor, for example through the Public Access Scheme, however, does not prevent the party on whose behalf the barrister had been instructed from being a litigant in person.
A contingent fee is any fee for services provided where the fee is payable only if there is a favourable result. Although such a fee may be used in many fields, it is particularly well associated with legal practice.
Solicitor advocate is a hybrid status which allows a solicitor in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong to represent clients in higher courts in proceedings that were traditionally reserved for barristers. The status does not exist in most other common law jurisdictions where, for the most part, all solicitors have rights of audience in higher courts.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales.
In common law, a right of audience is generally a right of a lawyer to appear and conduct proceedings in court on behalf of their client. In English law, there is a fundamental distinction between barristers, who have rights of audience in the superior court, and solicitors, who have rights of audience in the lower courts, unless a certificate of advocacy is obtained, which allows a solicitor advocate to represent clients in the superior courts also. There is no such distinction in American law.
In English law, a costs lawyer is a legal professional concerned with legal costs who has attained rights of audience and rights to conduct costs litigation.
The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the legal profession and courts of England and Wales. The Act was the culmination of a series of reports and reforms that started with the Benson Commission in the 1970s, and significantly changed the way that the legal profession and court system worked.
A Taxing master is an independent person appointed by the Irish government, pursuant to section 3 of the Court Officers Act 1926, to assess the legal costs of a party to a legal matter.
Legal ghostwriting is a form of unbundled legal services in the United States in which an attorney drafts a document on behalf of a client without formally appearing before the court. Instead, the client represents themself pro se.
In Australia, trust money in the legal industry is the money a law practice holds on behalf of a client or other people in the course of, or in connection with, the provision of legal services. Trust money is required to be held by a law firm on a client's behalf in a trust account with a bank and is highly regulated. A lawyer or law firm should not appropriate a client's trust money until certain regulations are met, which are different for each state in Australia. The Australian system regulating lawyers and their trust accounts has been labeled by the Rudd Government as an "unwieldy monster".
Legal cost finance is an alternative funding solution to traditional legal financing.
Legal aid in Germany is "embedded in the court system and is seen as a part of this". Germany was the first country to provide free legal aid representation for the poor in 1919, and represents the archetype of the so-called judicare system.
The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) is a professional association that represents costs lawyers in England and Wales. It was originally established in 1977 as the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen, but the name was changed in January 2011.