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26 September 2019 / Claire Green
Issue: 7857 / Categories: Features , Profession , Costs , Legal services
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Costs count & courtesy matters

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A law firm’s discourteous treatment of a costs lawyer backfired when a judge stepped in. Claire Green explains
  • Costs lawyers are entitled to the same professional courtesy that a solicitor would expect.

Costs lawyers may generally operate behind the scenes, but a recent case in the Senior Courts Costs Office provides a useful reminder of our professional status and the important role we play in the resolution of costs disputes.

In Allen v Brethertons LLP [2018] EWHC B15 (Costs), Norman Allen engaged Checkmylegalfees.com, which is not a regulated law firm, to look at what he had been charged. A costs lawyer employed by the company, Kerry-Ann Moore, handled the work and at first the defendant law firm ignored her request for copies of documents from its file and instead wrote directly to the client.

In a footnote to his ruling, which dealt with an application to deliver a statute bill, Master Leonard pointed out that, as a costs lawyer regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB), Moore had

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