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Careers in Law

Law Cost Draftsman

My name is Sue Murphy and I am a Law Costs Draftsman.
deal with all aspects of Solicitors’ costs including:

preparation of bills of costs for detailed assessment
preparation of schedules of costs for summary assessment
preparation of schedules for negotiation purposes
preparation of Claim 1 forms – claims for costs to be assessed by the Legal Services Commission
attending detailed assessment hearings
preparing Points of Dispute/Replies to Points of Dispute
assisting Solicitors in costs negotiations.

As a Costs Draftsman I deal with all areas of the law and deal with every conceivable type of legal matter that passes through a solicitor’s hands. I am not therefore restricted to one narrow lane of the law as are some solicitors or legal executives who tend to specialise in one subject.

Whilst not concerned with law primarily, I have had to acquire a knowledge of law and particularly, procedure to enable me to deal with the files passing through my hands.

The usual method of entry to the profession is via a solicitor’s office and I started my training in 1984 with Bond Pearce Solicitors. I was employed as an Assistant in their Costs Department working alongside their Costs Draftsman. I undertook the Part 1 Legal Executive Course to acquire a general knowledge of law and legal practice. I progressed in house with Bond Pearce to Costs Draftsman and remained working there until 1996. I then moved to work with an independent firm of Costs Draftsmen where I gained further experience dealing with the costs of numerous firms of solicitors. I was accepted as a Fellow of the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen in January 2001. I joined Nash & Co. as their In-house Costs Draftsman in March 2001.

What I particularly like about my job is the variety of work I deal with. I enjoy receiving a file and gathering all the pieces together to complete the bill and finalise the matter. I experience a great sense of job satisfaction. Of-course it helps a great deal to work with “costs friendly” solicitors and files – and at Nash we have the best of both!

I can’t think of any aspect of my job that I dislike. However, for anyone considering a career in this aspect of the law it would be wise to realise that legal procedure and costs processes are in a state of great change and the profession as it is today may not be an accurate predictor of what the role of a Costs Draftsman might be like in say five years time.