Athene Legal were recently instructed on behalf of the client in a solicitor and client costs dispute. The underlying issue was a High Court case concerning a dispute over boat moorings in London – with solicitor’s costs in excess of £800,000.
As if often our strategy in solicitor and client costs disputes, we initially obtained and reviewed the various bills in question and advised our client on the merits of the claim. As we considered the challenge to have strong merits and due to the deadline to challenge the solicitor’s bills, a Part 8 claim was issued requesting an assessment of the bills.
The bills were challenged on various grounds. It was argued that:
- The amounts claimed were unusual in nature and amount
- The fee estimates provided to the client were inadequate
- Insufficient information was given to the client as to the disbursements being incurred
- There was insufficient information contained in the bills
The claim was listed for a hearing, at which the client was represented by our Director and Costs Lawyer, Tyler McEwen. Directions were set for the service of a bill of costs and points of dispute and reply. We assisted our client with inspection of the solicitor’s file of papers at their office in London and the preparation of detailed points of dispute thereafter. We also reviewed and advised our client on the issues raised in the solicitor’s points of reply.
Next, we sought our client’s instructions with a view to entering settlement discussions with the receiving party solicitors. We were able to negotiate a reduction to the solicitor’s fees in the sum of £135,000. This was a fair but excellent outcome for our client, who – as a result of pragmatic settlement negotiations – managed to avoid the time and expense of a detailed assessment hearing.
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