Officer Legal Cost Validation (x2)

Road Accident Fund; East London; On-site; ZAR 300,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

A public service entity is seeking a Legal Costs Validation Officer to validate and assess legal cost bills. The ideal candidate will have a relevant degree and 3 years of experience in legal costs. Key responsibilities include screening bills for compliance and attending court taxations. This role offers a 24-month, fixed-term contract in East London.

Benefits

Total Employment Cost packages without additional contributions from the Employer

Qualifications

• 3 years’ experience in Claims or Legal Costs environment.
• In-depth knowledge of RAF Act.
• Ability to work under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Validate and assess legal cost bills.
• Screen bills for compliance with RAF Act.
• Attend court for taxations.

Skills

Communication Skills (Written and Verbal)

Negotiation skills

Analytical thinking

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor’s degree or Advanced Diploma in Law

Admission as an Attorney

Job description

Officer : Legal Costs Validation (X2)

Note : This is a 24-month, fixed-term contract position

Purpose of the job : The purpose of the OFFICER : LEGAL COSTS VALIDATION is to validate and assess legal cost bills.

Key Performance Areas

Perform assessment of bills

• Screening and checking compliance with the RAF Act, Rules of Court, SLA and Applicable RAF Tariffs.
• Evaluation of bills of cost that are settled and or taxed.
• Assessment of Bills of Cost set down for taxation and those that are not set down.
• Assessment of Bills of Cost for block settlements.
• Prepare and make cost contributions and settle Bills of Cost.
• Evaluate assessor invoices and accounts in terms of the SLA and applicable tariff.
• Conduct research on case law and legal principles to keep abreast of developments.
• Preparation of executive summaries for legal costs as per threshold.

Assessment of Service Provider’s Bills and Invoices (Panel Attorneys)

• Evaluate and tax Advocate’s accounts in terms of SLA and applicable tariff.
• Evaluate Panel Attorney’s files in terms of RAF tariff.
• Evaluate assessor invoices and accounts in terms of the SLA and applicable tariff.
• Assessment of disbursement of Experts Accounts.
• Referral of SLA breaches to panel management.
• Attend to block bookings.

Attend to Taxation of Bills of Cost

• Prepare and make offers and settle Bills of Cost
• Attendance at Magistrate’s Court and Regional Court for taxations.
• Attendance at High Courts for taxations.
• Appearance before the taxing Master to argue complex legal principles governing taxations of legal costs.

Attend Reviews of Bills of Cost

• Appearance before the taxing Master and the Magistrate to argue complex legal principles governing taxations of legal costs.
• Prepare review documents for review proceedings in court
• Serve review documents to opposing parties citing the basis of review.
• Attend court and appear to argue the basis of review in front of Magistrate or Judge.

Attend to Litigation relating to costs.

• Negotiate reasonable settlements of costs.
• Request cost payment
• Recover extra costs where applicable and advise Management accordingly.
• Instruct panel attorneys to oppose and settle costs and costs applications.
• Provide advice to Legal department in respect of Litigation processes received.
• Updating the status of claims view note.
• Perform verification to ensure that the right payment is made to the correct Attorney.

Authorization of Bills of Cost for payment

• Attend to Fee analysis.
• Perform duplicate checks.
• Evaluation of bills of cost that are settled and or taxed.
• Process Bills of Cost that are settled and or taxed.
• Approve Bills of Cost that are settled and or taxed in terms of delegation of authority policy.
• Request payment on the system.
• Prepare the source documents to be forwarded to Finance department for checking and payment.
• Keep daily statistics of activities and trends on work allocated and work to be assessed.
• Submit daily and monthly statistics as required by Management.
• Keep record of statistics for performance management and review.
• Attend queries from stakeholders pertaining to Bills of cost settled and outstanding payments of accounts.
• Referral of writs reports to quality assurance.
• Prepare batch report for payment department.

Play advisory role and function to Claims Departments, Attorneys and Cost Consultants.

• Prepare and render advice to claims sections, attorneys and cost consultants
• Instruct Panel Attorneys to attend taxations on behalf of RAF in respect of courts not falling within the proximity of offices of RAF.
• Conduct research on Case Law and legal principles to keep abreast of developments.

Quality assurance on writs reporting.

• Investigation, reconciliation of Writs and reporting.

Qualifications

• NQF 7 (bachelor’s degree or Advanced Diploma) in Law or related qualification.
• Admission as an Attorney would be advantageous.

Experience

• Relevant 3 years’ experience in Claims or Legal Costs environment.

Technical and behavioral competencies required

• Communication Skills (Written and Verbal).
• Report-writing skills.
• Computer Literacy.
• Decision making skills.
• Negotiation skills.
• Planning and organizing skills.
• Analytical thinking.
• Problem solving skills.
• Administration skills.
• Team player with tenacity to work independently.
• In-depth knowledge and thorough understanding of RAF Act.
• Attention to detail and ability to work under extreme pressure.
• Personal mastery
• Emotional wisdom
• Ethics and governance
• Customer orientation and customer focus

NB : “RAF offers Total Employment Cost packages with no additional contributions from the Employer; successful candidates are required to structure their packages in a manner that will suit their needs.”