Legal Costs Law & Advocacy | Glaisyers Solicitors Costs Law & Advocacy

Costs Law & Advocacy

Cost litigation has it’s own strategies and tactics.

We are expert and proven tacticians in this field. In particular, we advise you on the right offers to make at the right time, as we believe that Sun Tzu was spot on when he said, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

We provide a high-quality and prompt service to our numerous external law firms and insurer clients at all legal costs. Where possible we believe in face-to-face client relationships. We like to know the people that we are doing work for and provide CPD accredited training to our clients too. That way, we get an insight into them and their business and understand how best to secure the outcomes that they are looking for. Clients can expect a robust but realistic approach, with a real commitment to achieving excellent results.

As part of a thriving law firm, the Costs practice at Glaisyers has an instinctive commercial understanding of the importance of costs income to the external law firms that instruct us. Whilst proud to be in-house at Glaisyers, most of our work comes from other external law firms and outside lawyers who trust us to protect their clients and fee income.

Our collective experience in costs law and litigation enables us, at a very early stage, to give clients a realistic assessment of the prospects of their case. The value of being realistic with clients is demonstrated by the number of repeat instructions we receive. We aim for long-term term relationships with the external law firms that instruct us, which means establishing and maintaining trust from day one.

At a technical level, we have expertise in a wide range of fields and have in the last year been instructed in costs matters relating to everything from landlord and tenant disputes to personal injury, and from trades union law to professional negligence.

Led by Michael Fletcher, a Partner, Chartered Legal Executive Advocate, and Costs Lawyer with more than 25 years of experience, the Glaisyers Costs team is a force to be reckoned with on the national stage. We are regularly opposed by national and London firms – and we regularly win.

Achieving the best outcome for our clients.

Costs drafting in all civil work

Costs advocacy

Costs budgets and case management conference attendance

Civil litigation advocacy and Manchester agents

Instruct us with confidence.

Budgeting

Costs budgets have become a mandatory and integral part of a litigator’s practice on the multi-track. The procedural requirements are stringent. Glaisyers costs experts can ease this burden by preparing and updating costs budgets for the duration of the claim.

Costs Litigation and Dispute Resolution

This specialist area of law and legal procedure is something that we practice day in day out. We can take the pain out of your costs recovery. We can also negotiate on your behalf if you have a costs liability. Either way, we recognise the value of cost claims and can achieve excellent results quickly and economically. In problematic cases that can’t be negotiated to a conclusion, we can litigate and advocate with the costs of that process being recoverable from the opponent in many cases.

Cost & Litigation Advocacy

Glaisyers can provide you with expert advocacy and advice on all legal costs disputes. We offer a comprehensive advocacy service on civil litigation matters, with nationwide coverage. As we are a 5 minute walk away from Manchester Civil Justice Centre, we also offer a cost effective agency service for fellow lawyers who have Court hearings in Manchester CJC, but who are distantly located.

With vast experience in this complex area of law, we can attend Court on your behalf and give straightforward practical advice. We already act at many costs hearings for a major plc insurer as well as a national law firm renowned for personal injury work, as well as smaller firms of solicitors and insurers. That experience gives us regular first-hand knowledge into the views of Costs Judges, which provides us with a distinct competitive edge.

Drafting

Whether it is personal injury, clinical negligence, a commercial dispute or a Court of Protection case, we pride ourselves on drafting bills and statements of costs accurately and to achieve the best possible results for the client. We aim to maximise client returns, but within reasonable limits. At the heart of our costs drafting philosophy, is the thought that the document that we have prepared may go before the Court and that we may be called upon to justify it. We take great pride in our written work and the results that it constantly achieves for our clients.

This was a case where the Defendant and their Counsel, challenged our client’s (an external law firm) right to recover “normal” standard basis costs outside of the low value employer’s liability fixed Ministry of Justice portal costs. Normal costs vs fixed costs is a burgeoning jurisprudence. Jenny Williams handled the day-to-day elements of the claim. Michael Fletcher and Counsel for the Defendant prepared detailed skeleton arguments and attended for a full contest heard over a day in Southampton County Court before District Judge Stewart. The District Judge found for our client and the claim quickly settled on very favourable terms after his reserved Judgment was handed down.

Michael Fletcher was instructed to attend before the Senior Costs Judge of England and Wales, Master Gordon Saker, to represent the receiving party to recover costs relating to Court of Appeal proceedings. Senior Junior Counsel opposed Michael Fletcher. The outcome was favourable and an order for the costs of the detailed assessment proceedings was obtained. We also successfully resisted a High Court costs appeal, in relation to the costs that were incurred before the matter went up to the Court of Appeal. The subject matter of the appeal was the correct application of the proportionality rules pre and post LASPO (April 2013).

We were instructed to attend an oral review hearing following a provisional assessment of costs by the District Judge. Counsel opposed us. The Judge had made large reductions to the costs when conducting the paper assessment. We considered that was erroneous based on the nature of the Court’s case management orders, notably in relation to permission having been granted for certain experts. Extensive submissions were made to the Judge and reference made to the trail of medico legal expert evidence. The Judge graciously accepted that he had “missed” on the papers the extent of the arguments we put. This resulted in the restoration of large sums of expert evidence and other costs. The further consequence was that we succeeded in beating previous settlement offers that had been made and costs orders for the assessment proceedings were reversed in our favour. All together there was a circa £32K swing to our client.