Disputing Costs

Court Award Costs

In a case where a person is ordered by a court, tribunal or other body to pay, in whole or in part, the legal costs of another person, the person whose legal costs are to be paid by reason of that order shall furnish a bill of costs to the person who is the subject of the order to pay the legal costs, in a form and manner consistent with the terms of the order, the Act, and any rules of court relating to the preparation and furnishing of bills of costs in a case to which this subsection refers.

Where a person who is the subject of the order to pay costs receives a bill of costs prepared  that person may, having attempted to agree the bill of costs, apply to the Chief Costs Adjudicator for adjudication on any matter or item claimed in the bill of costs. Where a person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made issues a bill of costs that person, having attempted to resolve any dispute regarding the bill of costs with the person who is the subject of the order, may apply to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator for the bill of costs or any matter or item in the bill of costs to be adjudicated upon.

Practitioner Costs

Where a legal practitioner provides a bill of costs to his or her client and the client considers that any matter or item or the amount charged in respect of any matter or item in the bill of costs is not properly chargeable, taking account of the provisions of the 2015 Act, and any rules of court relating to costs payable to legal practitioners by clients, the client may apply to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator for the bill of costs or any matter or item in the bill of costs to be adjudicated upon.

Where a legal practitioner provides a bill of costs to his or her client and the bill of costs or any part thereof remains unpaid on the expiry of a period of 30 days from the date on which the bill of costs was provided, the legal practitioner may apply to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator for the bill of costs or any matter or item in the bill of costs to be adjudicated upon.

Where the legal practitioner applies for adjudication, the legal practitioner shall indicate whether or not he or she is aware of any dispute regarding an item in the bill of costs and if so aware the matter to which the dispute relates. An application to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator  may not be made after the expiry of 12 months after the date on which the bill of costs concerned was provided to the client.

A legal practitioner who has provided a bill of costs to his or her client may apply ex parte to the High Court or to a Legal Costs Adjudicator for the abridgement of the period of 30 days referred, where it appears that it is just to do so, the Court or the Legal Costs Adjudicator, as appropriate, may grant an abridgement of that period.

Where a barrister has,  provided a bill of costs to a solicitor, and the bill of costs or any part thereof remains unpaid on the expiry of a period of 30 days from the date on which the bill of costs was provided, the solicitor concerned may, with the consent of the barrister, apply to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator for the bill of costs or any matter or item in the bill of costs to be adjudicated upon. An application to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator may not be made after the expiry of 12 months after the date on which the bill of costs concerned was provided to the client.

Dispute about Costs

Where a client disputes any aspect of a bill of costs, he or she shall, within 21 days of the bill of costs being provided to him or her, send the legal practitioner concerned a statement in writing setting out the nature of the dispute. Where a legal practitioner receives the statement he or she shall, before making an application for adjudication take all appropriate and reasonable steps to attempt to resolve the dispute by informal means, which may include, where appropriate and with the consent of the client, mediation.

Where the legal practitioner or the client, as the case may be, having made reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute, is of the opinion that the attempt has failed, he or she shall inform the other party in writing of that opinion. In reckoning the period of time above, the period beginning on the date on which the client sends the legal practitioner the above statement and ending on the date on which the legal practitioner or the client, as the case may be, informs the other party of his or her above opinion shall be disregarded. The failure by a client to pay a bill of costs to a legal practitioner within the above time period  shall not be construed as a formal communication of the existence of a dispute by the client to the legal practitioner.

Where a bill of costs has been provided by a legal practitioner to his or her client and the legal practitioner has agreed to accept a lesser amount in discharge of the bill of costs which lesser amount is paid, neither the legal practitioner nor the client may make an application to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator for adjudication of the bill of costs.

Time Limit

An application to the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicator by a client  may not be made after the expiry of 6 months after the date on which the bill of costs concerned was provided to the client 3 months from the date of payment of the bill of costs, whichever first occurs, so long as the bill of costs is in a form and manner consistent with the 2015 Act, and any rules of court relating to the preparation and provision of bills of costs by a legal practitioner to a client.

Not Proportion Damages or Deduced w/o Consent

A legal practitioner shall not charge any amount in respect of legal costs if they are legal costs in connection with contentious business expressed as a specified percentage or proportion of any damages (or other moneys) that may be or become payable to his or her client, other than in relation to a matter seeking only to recover a debt or liquidated demand, or  they purport to set the legal costs to be charged to a junior counsel as a specified percentage or proportion of the legal costs paid to a Senior Counsel.

A legal practitioner shall not, without the prior written agreement of his or her client, deduct or appropriate any amount in respect of legal costs from the amount of any damages or moneys that become payable to the client in respect of legal services that the legal practitioner provided to the client.

A legal practitioner shall, whenever required to do so by the Act, provide to his or her client a notice written in clear language that is likely to be easily understood by the client and that otherwise complies with the above requirement.