Clinical Negligence and Serious Injury

Injuries turn lives upside down

Our clients work hard to pick up the pieces.

We believe that your hard work and skill deserves just reward. We understand that your time is limited, so, as part of your legal team, we will bring genuine costs expertise, timely work and diligence to ensure you obtain the right costs recovery in as short a time as possible.

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Case Study

Client: Top tier specialist clinical negligence firm

Type of Case: Cerebral Palsy

Brief: To prepare a Bill of Costs and handle costs recovery through to settlement or assessment

Time to complete: 3 weeks to prepare Bill of Costs, 4 months to negotiate settlement

Result: 84% profit costs recovery and recovery of success fee on assigned CFA

The Matter

Our solicitor client acted in a long running cerebral palsy claim on behalf of a severely disabled child who had suffered a hypoxic brain injury at birth.

The Costs Issues

The costs of the claim were in the high six-figures and there were potentially difficult costs issues relating to the assignment of a Conditional Fee Agreement from a previous firm to my client. The claim would therefore require a persuasive and accurate Bill of Costs to be prepared and the application of technical costs expertise and costs assessment experience.

Our Approach

We were instructed to prepare a Bill of Costs and deal with the day-to-day running of the assessment proceedings, to include advising our solicitor client on the costs issues and undertaking negotiation, as well as preparing Replies to Points of Dispute and attending the assessment hearing, should the same be required. Our client values a quick turnaround, and as they had achieved an exceptional outcome for the injured child, following seven-years of hard-fought litigation, we were determined that we would provide a commensurate outcome for our client in the costs proceedings.

The matter was dealt with by a single qualified and experienced Costs Lawyer from initial instruction through to conclusion, ensuring we had a comprehensive grasp of the details of the case and consistent care and attention was paid to the matter throughout. We established a strong line of communication with our instructing solicitor, which enabled us to ensure that all costs were properly included in the draft, and that a fully detailed narrative and chronology to the Bill of Costs was prepared. Our draft Bill of Costs was prepared within 3 weeks together with robust and comprehensive advice on the assignment issue and the other pertinent issues in the costs claim. Our instructing solicitor was pleased with the draft and it was duly certified and served.

The Defendant served Points of Dispute which argued, inter alia,  that no success fee could be claimed following the assignment of the CFA to my instructing solicitors, that the costs claimed were disproportionate and that the hourly rates sought were too high. An offer was also made by the Defendant. We provided prompt advice to our client upon receipt of the Points of Dispute and offer, addressing the merits of the Defendant’s arguments and the level of their offer, and setting out proposed settlement parameters. Simultaneously, we secured agreement from the Defendant that it would tender the amount of its offer as an interim payment, aiding our instructing solicitor with cashflow while continuing to progress the assessment proceedings.

Due to the level of the Defendant’s offer, our instructing solicitor followed our advice and instructed us to prepare Points of Reply. Replies were drafted with counter-arguments on both the points of principle and the specific objections to the Bill, maintaining, inter alia, the recovery of the success fee with reference to Budana v The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 1980 and the circumstances of the assignment. The document was served together with a Part 36 counter-offer.

The Outcome

While the Part 36 offer was not accepted by our counterparts, following our setting the matter down for assessment we were able to secure a very favourable negotiated costs settlement which equated to an 84% profit costs recovery plus a substantial success fee on all costs both before and after assignment of the CFA. This was an excellent result having regard to the challenges in the case.

To achieve this outcome required meticulous costs drafting to encompass all costs incurred over the course of the claim, a strong grasp of the costs issues, the ability to provide lucid and well-reasoned advice, as well as the ability to engage effectively in negotiations and the willingness to proceed to assessment if necessary. A comprehensive and cohesive service was provided to our client, with the same qualified, experienced Costs Lawyer undertaking the drafting, providing technical advice and conducting the negotiations. This approach meant that, should the matter have ultimately proceeded to court assessment, the advocate would have been the same individual who had prepared the Bill of Costs, with a thorough grasp of all aspects of the costs claim, ensuring that the Bill of Costs would hold up to the Court’s scrutiny and the paying party’s objections.

Our client was delighted with the outcome and noted our tenacity, responsiveness and prompt turnaround. We are very pleased to be able work with our client on an ongoing basis to include not only the drafting of Bills of Costs and conduct of assessment proceedings, but the preparation of Costs Budgets and advocacy at Costs and Case Management Hearings.