Under the Solicitor’s Act 1974, clients are able to challenge the costs issued to them from their solicitors in civil litigation matters. A detailed assessment of the solicitor’s costs can be applied for in relation to the full bill or solely for the disbursements or profits only. There are a number of reasons for the application for an assessment and subsequent breakdown of costs; clients may have general queries regarding the total bill, doubts about the sum being asked of them, dubious of the service they received, the duration of case notwithstanding the amount billed or blatant errors regarding the overall cost.

There is a growing increase in clients now paying part of their damages as costs. Therefore the need for specialism within this particular area of cost law is vital and County Cost are able to efficiently handle such matters with our in depth knowledge. The reasoning for clients dealing with solicitors is to ultimately win or defend themselves regarding the case they are embroiled in, seeking their professionalism and legal advice. The legal industry is filled with jargon and proceedings that aren’t easily comprehensible to those outside of the law sector, this doesn’t mean that clients are unable to question the itemisation of services as they can seek help from various resources including cost lawyers. As stated from the judgement of Master Gordon-Saker in Rahimian vs Allan Janes LLP, 2016, “a bill does not become a final bill just by calling itself one.”  

A solicitor is obliged to ensure that a finalised bill is as transparent as possible, containing ample detail enabling the client to fully understand the work they are paying for. When working on a solicitor assessment, one of our expert team members will rake over the case in fine detail to validate services and retrieve any costs that are incorrect.

Over our twenty three year experience, we have been instructed to review, advise and act on behalf of many individuals who have sought to question a solicitor own client bill to a lay person with some exceptional results achieved.