Costs count & courtesy matters

• Costs lawyers are entitled to the same professional courtesy that a solicitor would expect.

Costs lawyers may generally operate behind the scenes, but a recent case in the Senior Courts Costs Office provides a useful reminder of our professional status and the important role we play in the resolution of costs disputes.

In Allen v Brethertons LLP [2018] EWHC B15 (Costs), Norman Allen engaged Checkmylegalfees.com, which is not a regulated law firm, to look at what he had been charged. A costs lawyer employed by the company, Kerry-Ann Moore, handled the work and at first the defendant law firm ignored her request for copies of documents from its file and instead wrote directly to the client.

In a footnote to his ruling, which dealt with an application to deliver a statute bill, Master Leonard pointed out that, as a costs lawyer regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB), Moore had the right, in cases such as this, to conduct litigation