Costs Lawyer

Weightmans is a Top 45 law firm with offices throughout the UK. Having been recognised as the leading legal employer at the annual Britain's Top Employers awards and achieved record rankings in Chambers UK 2017, we are immensely proud of the work we carry out for our clients and the culture we provide to our people.

Weightmans’ Niche Costs & Advocacy team deals with complex costs litigation for the firm in both the personal injury and commercial arena. The team advises on all aspects of costs throughout the lifetime of the file from retainer to costs assessment, reserves, budgeting and strategy. In addition a skilled team of advocates regularly attends Court throughout the Country on not only assessment hearings but CCMCs, PTR hearings and application hearings.

The role is for 12 month maternity cover and the successful Costs Lawyer will have at least 6 years' experience in costs litigation. Ideally the candidate will have previous experience in both Defendant and Claimant work to include advocacy, drafting costs budgets, bills of costs, Points of Dispute, Replies, negotiating settlements, drafting Schedules of Costs and handling high value  matters in both personal injury and commercial litigation. They will be able to prioritise their workload effectively, work well within a team and possess excellent attention to detail. They will also have strong communication and negotiation skills as well as being able to work efficiently under pressure. This is a great opportunity for someone looking to progress their career within legal costs.

Key responsibilities

• Drafting costs budgets

• Assessing bills of costs

• Drafting Points of Dispute

• Drafting bills of costs

• Drafting replies

• Negotiating settlements

• Drafting Schedules of Costs

• Manage a caseload

• Attend CCMCs

• Attend assessment hearing/oral reviews

This list is not intended to be exhaustive and you will have other duties and responsibilities that fall within the wider remit of the role.

• 6 years experience in costs litigation

• Knowledge of CPR procedures/technical ability

• Ability to achieve targets and work under pressure

• Ability to work as part of a team and on own initiative

• Ability to prioritise workload in order to meet deadlines

• Excellent communication skills

• Flexible approach

Please note:

• Any reference to experience or PQE in our adverts or job descriptions is to be used as a guideline only. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and with different levels of experience who can demonstrate that they fulfil the requirements of the role.

• The successful candidate appointed to this role will be subject to our standard background checking process, and any offer of employment made is conditional upon successful completion of those checks. Further details can be obtained from the Recruitment team.