Costs Lawyer/Costs Draftsperson

A leading UK law firm with a network of offices from the South Coast to Scotland, working together as one national team. An innovative practice and the first top 100 law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. The lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity makes Shoosmiths a fantastic place to work.

The Costs Team is part of the Private Client Practice Group at Shoosmiths, one of the UK’s largest national law firms 

Required to work as part of a team handling costs for the Litigation Teams. You will be expected to undertake work for a number of offices within the firm and be involved in a range of issues including:

• drafting bills of costs for detailed assessment
• drafting Replies to Points of Dispute
• drafting Costs Budgets and liaising with the opponent with a view to narrowing the issues or agreeing ahead of a CCMC
• undertaking negotiations with the opponent
• preparing applications for interim payments
• working in line with internal SLAs and Costs Team benchmarks

You will work as part of a team and be able to work on your own initiative, whilst also supporting your colleagues.  The ability to organise your day and to prioritise work is essential whilst remaining calm and professional in your approach.

You will be expected to attend and complete mandatory training and you may be required to attend meetings with Legal Advisers. You will also be expected to assist the team in reaching financial targets and to support marketing initiatives where required.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE:

• Prior experience as a Costs Lawyer or Costs Draftsperson within a law firm
• experience of managing a case load of files
• good working knowledge of the CPR

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE:

• experience of dealing with personal injury costs at all levels, especially Multi Track
• experience of using CostsMaster
• experience of working to billing and time recording targets
• experience of building relationships with internal contacts at all levels

SKILLS: 

• IT literate with experience of using Word, Excel and the internet
• Confident communicator and negotiator
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to prioritise, be organised and efficient
• Flexibility with the capability to adapt to change, new practices and cope under pressure but with the ability to recognise when to seek assistance
• Able to integrate within a team and able to work on your own initiative
• Friendly and helpful approach
• Quality and customer service orientated
• Client focused with an ability to build strong relationships with clients

Shoosmiths is a committed Equal Opportunities employer promoting equality of opportunity. This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.