Charging your client and deductions from damages

The extension of fixed costs has meant that, in order to make ends meet, you will almost certainly want to bill your own client on top of the recovery made from the opposition. This is a fraught area and problems abound, leading to an uptick in solicitor-own client costs disputes, as well as complaints to the Legal Ombudsman.

Topics covered include:

• What you must tell your client in fixed costs cases, including on the Intermediate Track
• Important guidance from the Legal Ombudsman
• What limits are there on how much you charge the client?
• Why you must always send your client a full, final bill
• The profound difference between your client’s consent and informed consent to your charging regime
• The statutory presumptions
• What your retainer must provide for
• The forthcoming Court of Appeal hearing in Turner v Coupland Cavendish on part 18 requests in Solicitors Act assessments