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At BarnsChapel, we recognise the fundamental importance of ensuring that legal costs charged by solicitors to their clients are fair, reasonable, and transparent.
Solicitor and client costs assessments provide a critical mechanism for scrutinising professional fees, offering clients the opportunity to challenge costs they believe are excessive while providing solicitors with an independent verification of their charges.
The statutory framework established by the Solicitors Act 1974 governs this process, empowering the court to review and adjust solicitors’ fees to ensure they are reasonable and in line with the work performed and services delivered. This impartial assessment promotes transparency and maintains trust in the solicitor-client relationship, which is essential to the effective functioning of legal services.
Our costs lawyers have extensive expertise in conducting and responding to solicitor-client costs assessments, collaborating closely with both solicitors and clients to ensure all costs are properly documented, robustly justified, and fairly evaluated.
Combining technical excellence with practical business understanding, our approach focuses on achieving fair outcomes while minimising the administrative burden on our clients.
We work closely with you to ensure that all costs are properly documented and justified, providing a solid foundation for successful resolution of fee disputes.
By entrusting us with your solicitor and client costs assessments, you can free up your time to concentrate on higher value activities, enhancing your productivity and peace of mind.
Our involvement in these types of cases provides a clear, methodical breakdown of all solicitor charges, including hourly rates, fee earner time, disbursements, and other relevant costs. This transparency helps identify any discrepancies and supports effective challenge or defence of the costs claimed.
We guarantee that all assessments comply with the Solicitors Act 1974, relevant court rules, and solicitors' accounts regulations. This strict compliance helps you avoid procedural pitfalls and secure fair outcomes.
We structure your assessment application or response to highlight key issues and present them in the most favourable light, maximising your position while maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.
With our comprehensive and accurate valuations, you can significantly improve your position in solicitor-client costs disputes. We ensure all necessary evidence is properly compiled and presented, supporting fair and reasonable cost determinations.
With our strategic approach to costs negotiations, you can significantly improve your financial position. We ensure all arguments are properly justified and documented, supporting successful costs outcomes without the expense and uncertainty of detailed assessment proceedings.
A solicitor and client costs assessment is a formal procedure where the court reviews fees charged by a solicitor to their client to determine their reasonableness. Clients may request an assessment when they believe they have been overcharged, while solicitors may seek assessment to confirm the reasonableness of their fees, particularly when pursuing recovery of unpaid bills.
A client can request a costs assessment within one month of receiving the solicitor's bill as of right. Between one and twelve months, the court's permission is required, and after twelve months, only in exceptional circumstances. These statutory timelines make prompt action essential.
The court examines numerous factors including the complexity of the matter, skill and specialised knowledge required, time spent, importance to the client, value of the subject matter, and the solicitor's skill, effort and responsibilities involved. The assessment considers both the hours worked and the rates charged.
A Solicitor Act assessment specifically concerns disputes between solicitors and their own clients regarding fees, while a standard detailed assessment typically involves costs payable between opposing parties in litigation. Different rules, procedures and standards of assessment apply to each process. In particular, generally speaking solicitor-client costs only need to be reasonable, whilst inter partes costs must also be proportionate.
The court may confirm the original bill as reasonable, reduce the amount payable if specific items are deemed excessive, or increase the bill in rare circumstances. The court will also make an order regarding the costs of the assessment process itself, typically dependent on the percentage reduction achieved.
Payment of a bill will usually preclude a client from seeking an assessment. If a client wishes to challenge a solicitor’s costs after they have been paid, special circumstances will need to be demonstrated.
The costs of the assessment process typically follow the outcome. If the bill is reduced by 20% or more, the solicitor usually pays the assessment costs. If reduced by less than 20%, the client typically pays. The court retains discretion to depart from this general principle in appropriate cases.
Maximising your position requires meticulous preparation, comprehensive supporting evidence, and expert representation. Whether challenging or defending a bill, our costs lawyers provide complete support at each stage, ensuring your case is presented effectively while maintaining compliance with all relevant rules and practice directions.
The practice of Solicitor/Client Costs Assessments in UK Costs Law has evolved significantly in recent years. Initially, these assessments were rare, and solicitors could go through their entire careers without facing a challenge to their fees by their own clients.
However, with the rise of fixed costs, changes introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), and a general increase in consumerism, these assessments have become more common.
Have a question about Costs Law that we haven’t answered, or want to have a chat about what we do and how we do it?
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