I’ve been around a bit now and have found that many of the costs firms and costs draftsmen I’ve come across simply just draft, negotiate and advise on costs – normally at the end of the case but occasionally (these days) on budgets too. For my clients though, this is not the service they get from me. I give more.
As an experienced fee earner and drafter, I’m always looking out for my clients to make sure not only do they recover the most costs but also make sure they don’t fall foul of anything that may cause them difficulties in the future.
I appreciate the art of fee earning and also appreciate the potential for things going wrong (as I recently found when I myself had to apply for relief from sanction). Take for example this past week when I was engaged to prepare an revised costs budget. I had previously worked on the case in January 2018 and the revised budget was due mid-November 2019.
Happily going through the case, I found that my client had made a Part 36 offer in the summary of 2018 for £100,000. However, following further medical evidence and an updated schedule of loss, the value of the claim had increased and my client, just last month had made an increased Part 36 offer of £140,000. The first offer had not yet been withdrawn. This rang alarm bells and so, in addition to my work on the budget, I ensured my client was alerted to the fact that the first Part 36 offer could be accepted (which if it was, would have the potential of a more than unhappy client and possibly a negligence claim) and I duly advised him that if there was a genuine belief of the value of the claim being significantly more than £100,000 then they should withdraw it ASAP.
So in addition to drafting of bills, budgets, N260s and all things costs (included those dreaded (or not so dreaded) success fee deductions), what else can I do?
- Enforcement of Part 36 Acceptances and Orders;
- Drafting work;
- Advocacy;
- General Civil Litigation consultancy;
- Training staff; and
- Perhaps much more
You can think of me as your in-house all-rounder fee earner. I can work for both sides to make your life much easier.
Philip Nam
Director – Legal Consultant & Advocate (Civil Litigation & Costs)
0151 230 8931
07943 163 877
philip@whitecollarlegalandadmin.com