Costs Draftsperson

Pogust Goodhead; London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading law firm in London is looking for a Senior Costs Draftsperson to join their team. In this role, you will be responsible for drafting and negotiating costs, advising on cost claims, and mentoring junior members. The ideal candidate should have experience in cost litigation, strong communication skills, and a solid understanding of civil procedure rules. This position offers a collaborative work environment and opportunities for career growth.

Qualifications

• Experience as a Senior Costs Draftsperson or Costs Lawyer is essential.
• Understanding of cost claims and civil procedure rules required.
• Able to work collaboratively and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Draft and negotiate costs related documents.
• Provide guidance on cost-related issues.
• Mentor junior team members.

Skills

Cost drafting and litigation

Communication skills

Numeracy and attention to detail

Understanding of Civil Procedure Rules

IT skills in Excel and Outlook

Job description

Pogust Goodhead is passionate about championing justice for the victims of wrongdoing by large corporations. The firm is at the cutting edge of international consumer claims, including historic settlements in the Volkswagen NOx Emissions Group Litigation in May 2022 and the victims of the British Airways Data Breach in 2021.

Pogust Goodhead is also a leader in environmental litigation. In July 2022 the firm secured a landmark, unanimous judgment from the Court of Appeal that allows over 700,000 victims of the Fundão Dam disaster, Brazil’s worst ever environmental disaster, to seek redress against the world's largest mining company, BHP, in the Courts of England and Wales. We were proud to be confirmed as winners of the Litigation Boutique firm of the year prize at The Lawyer Awards 2023, and were also name Boutique Law Firm of the Year at the British Legal Awards 2023, too.

As one of the world’s leading class action law firms, our mission is to level the playing field between individuals and businesses and large corporations. We recognise that there can be substantial barriers to justice for consumers, residents, victims, small business owners, and investors when weighed up against the financial resources of multinational corporations.

Pogust Goodhead has offices in the UK, the U.S., Netherlands, and Brazil, and we would encourage you to see our website for more information on our groundbreaking work and more generally about the firm and our global operations.

We are in an exciting period of expansion, and currently have numerous litigations underway, covering a range of matters across the globe. In order to meet the demands of this busy period, we are strengthening our internal costs team with an experienced Senior Costs Draftsperson / Costs Lawyer / Legal Costs Specialist.

In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for drafting and negotiating costs, advising on and analysing cost claims, preparing inter partes correspondence, reviewing retainers, funding agreements, and ATE policies, and supporting cost management through disbursement tracking and settlement processes. You will also produce internal cost estimates and assist with cost-specific applications and draft orders.

Your expertise will be essential to managing the financial aspects of our litigation efficiently and ensuring the best possible outcomes for both our clients and the firm.

Role & responsibilities and core competencies

Skills

• Prepare Precedent H costs budgets, bills of costs, and schedules/statements of costs
• Provide advice and guidance to senior litigation team members on ad-hoc cost-related issues
• Draft communications on cost-related issues, including inter partes correspondence
• Review and understand retainers, funding agreements, and ATE insurance policies
• Negotiate counsel fees and track disbursement spend
• Support the cost settlement and post-settlement processes
• Prepare internal cost estimates and contribute to financial case budgeting
• Analyse and assess costs, and assist with cost-specific applications, such as Security for Costs, Funding Information Disclosure, including drafting proposed cost orders
• Support the Legal teams on cost matters arising within the group litigations

Knowledge

• Strong understanding and practical application of the Civil Procedure Rules and key case law relating to legal costs

Responsibility

• Take ownership of cost-related matters on designated litigations
• Mentor junior members of the cost team
• Work collaboratively with internal teams on cost-related issues, including finance, litigation finance, compliance & risk, data, operations, and communications departments

Competency

• Undertake other reasonable duties as required by direct line manager, Partners or senior management

What you’ll bring to Pogust Goodhead:

Essential

• A Senior Costs Draftsperson / Costs Lawyer / Legal Costs Specialist with good day-to-day experience of cost drafting and cost litigation
• Understanding of the mechanics of presenting and analysing a cost claim
• IT literate with a good working knowledge of Excel and Outlook
• Being able to communicate clearly and concisely, both verbally and in written form
• Clear understanding and application of the civil procedure rules, not just relating to costs
• Numerate with an attention to detail
• Able to work to deadlines and the ability to work in a collaborative fashion within a team framework
• Office attendance (London)

Desirable

• Experience in instructing counsel and liaising with clerks
• Knowledge of group litigation costs
• Good understanding of the level of work required to prepare a case from pre-action to case end at trial
• Good understanding of presentation of case reports in relation to litigation funding

This job description is not an exhaustive or definitive list and is subject to change based on the needs of the business and appropriate experience

Fostering an Inclusive Workplace

Pogust Goodhead is an equal opportunities employer. We passionately believe that our team should represent the diverseness of the clients that we support, not least because it’s the diversity of perspective, thought, background and cultures that helps make us one of the leading global law firms in the class actions space. We are committed to providing a place of work that provides fair and equitable career growth, with learning opportunities for all our employees.

We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind within our firm, and we strive to create a culture that offers opportunity for all, regardless of race, culture, gender, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, disability, veteran status, or religious belief.