header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
23 June 2021
Issue: 7938 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Costs
printer mail-detail

Costs lawyers kept busy

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
Half of costs lawyers are busier than ever, a survey has found―with former clients suing their solicitors a fast-growing area of practice

Some 46% of the 128 lawyers who responded to the Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) survey in May reported an increase in the number of solicitor/own client challenges, reflecting the growing industry of personal injury clients being encouraged to sue their previous lawyers for deductions made from their damages.

The profession is awaiting the Court of Appeal hearing in Belsner over what constitutes a client’s informed consent to deductions (following Belsner v Cam [2020] EWHC 2755 (QB)).

Some lawyers have criticised this type of work as reflecting poorly on the profession. 52% of costs lawyers said, if the rules were broken, then litigation of this nature was fair enough. However, 31% thought it was giving costs lawyers a bad name.

ACL chair Claire Green said: ‘Costs Lawyers have delivered when their clients needed them most by maximising the proper recovery of costs due to them.’

Issue: 7938 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Costs
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS
Read All
Legal notice: Notice under the Trustee Act 1925

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Emergency lawyers on call as international regulatory actions soar
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
NLJ this week: Employment law’s fine margins
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
NLJ this week: Promises broken on non-molestation orders?
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
NLJ this week: Assisted dying under the legal microscope
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll