Responding to the Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) annual survey. 37% of costs lawyers said they were busier than before the pandemic and a further 38% said the crisis had not made much difference to their practice.
However, 15% said their workload had reduced, one respondent had lost their job and three of the lawyers said they were having to consider making redundancies.
The survey was completed by 126 lawyers or about one fifth of the profession.
Nearly half the costs lawyers have not found it easy to conduct hearings online, although four out of ten noted how opposing parties have cooperated well to make remote hearings work.
More than one in five worked from home prior to the pandemic, and a further 29% said working from home has become a permanent choice for them. However, nearly one in five reported problems supervising colleagues at home.
One in six respondents said solicitors are paying their bills more slowly
ACL chair Claire Green said: ‘The vital role of costs lawyers in ensuring that solicitors are properly paid for the work they do has come to the fore during the pandemic―there has never been a more important time for firms to realise the value of their efforts.
‘Covid has, of course, been difficult for everyone but it has had the positive side effect of encouraging greater digitisation, whether in time recording and preparing bundles for hearings, as well as embedding the electronic bill yet further. The Senior Costs Judge has made clear that he expects remote hearings to remain part of the Senior Courts Costs Office’s work even after life returns to normal, especially for short hearings.
‘What costs lawyers have proven over recent months is that they are adaptable, increasingly tech-savvy and able to step up when their clients need them.’
