Rising costs

Nearly twice as many people have applied to train as a costs lawyer this year. The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) received an unprecedented 112 applications in 2011, compared to 65 in 2010.

Study leads to qualification as a costs lawyer, an authorised person under the Legal Services Act with independent rights of audience and to conduct litigation.

Iain Stark, ACL chairman, said the Jackson reforms are raising the profile of costs and courts are increasingly insisting that only those with rights of audience appear in costs hearings, rather than unregulated costs draftsmen. “All litigators will have to get to grips with costs budgeting as part of these reforms and we are seeing more firms—including some of the largest in the City—deciding to bring costs expertise in-house so they can manage costs from the start.”