Costs draftsman in London.

Many firms still search for a costs draftsman, a law costs draftsman or a costs draughtsman when they need a bill drawn or a costs dispute handled. The terms describe the traditional role of preparing bills of costs and negotiating recovery. Anyone can use the title costs draftsman; it is not a protected or regulated description.

A Costs Lawyer is different. Costs Lawyers are authorised and regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board, hold rights of audience in costs proceedings and must maintain insurance and continuing professional development. When you instruct us, the drafting is done or supervised by qualified Costs Lawyers, so the same person who prepares your bill can advise on entitlement and represent you at detailed assessment.

We work from our office at 90 Paul Street, London, close to the City, Shoreditch and the main courts. London solicitors instruct us for bills of costs in electronic format, Precedent H costs budgets, points of dispute, replies to points of dispute and N260 statements of costs for summary assessment.

Our work covers personal injury, clinical negligence, commercial litigation, professional negligence, Court of Protection and actions against the police. We regularly handle complex and high-value bills, including matters with multiple parties, budget departures, funding issues and disputed retainers.

Many London costs disputes are assessed at the Senior Courts Costs Office, which has its own practices and expectations about bills, bundles and preliminary issues. We are familiar with SCCO procedure, provisional assessment and oral hearings, and we prepare papers with the costs judge’s time in mind.

We also attend the County Court at Central London, the Royal Courts of Justice and the Business and Property Courts for costs management conferences, applications and detailed assessment hearings. Being in London means we can attend at short notice and meet fee earners in person to review files.

A good bill starts with good records. We review the file, the retainer, the orders and any budget before drafting, and flag issues early, such as missing time entries, unclear funding arrangements or interim orders that affect recovery. That allows problems to be fixed before the bill is served rather than argued later.

We agree a clear timetable and fee structure at the outset, and keep you informed of deadlines under CPR 47. Where a matter settles, we provide a short negotiation note so the fee earner can see how the figure was reached.

We offer hourly rates, fixed fees for defined work and percentage arrangements where appropriate. Tell us about the size of the file and the deadline and we will confirm a price before we start. Urgent work, such as N260 statements for a hearing the next day, can often be accommodated.