Case Study: Recovering £220,000 in a Complex Clinical Negligence Costs Claim

At ARC Costs, we understand that effective costs management and robust negotiation can make a significant difference to a client’s costs  recovery. In a recent matter, we were instructed to prepare and pursue a Bill of Costs arising from a complex clinical negligence claim involving negligent childbirth.

The background

The underlying litigation concerned allegations of negligence during childbirth, resulting in a claim that was hard fought over a number of years. As is common in high-value clinical negligence cases, the proceedings required extensive investigation and evidence gathering before settlement.

The matter involved multiple expert disciplines, including obstetrics, midwifery, neonatology, paediatric care and quantum evidence. Significant work was also undertaken in reviewing medical records, preparing witness evidence and engaging with liability and causation issues throughout the life of the claim.

Given the complexity of the case and the volume of work undertaken, our client instructed ARC Costs to prepare and negotiate the recovery of its legal costs.

Preparing the Bill of Costs

Following a detailed review of the file, our team prepared a Bill of Costs totalling approximately £233,000.

Care was taken to ensure that the bill accurately reflected the work carried out over several years, including solicitor time, counsel’s fees and expert disbursements. We also reviewed the chronology of the litigation to present the costs in a clear and persuasive manner, anticipating areas that were likely to be challenged by the paying party.

Challenges raised by the Defendant

As expected, the Defendant disputed a number of aspects of the claim during the detailed assessment process.

Among the issues raised in Points of Dispute were:

• Objections to the hourly rates claimed by the Claimant’s solicitors, with the Defendant arguing that lower rates should apply.
• Challenges to expert disbursements, including the cost of obtaining specialist obstetric and neonatal reports, on the basis that some evidence was said to be duplicative or disproportionate.
• Allegations that certain attendances and conferences exceeded what was reasonably required given the stage of the proceedings.
• Queries over the extent of medical record analysis and document review undertaken during the investigation of the claim.

Working closely with our client, ARC Costs prepared comprehensive Points of Reply addressing each objection and setting out why the costs claimed were reasonable, proportionate and properly incurred.

Negotiation through the detailed assessment process

Rather than allowing the dispute to proceed unnecessarily to a contested hearing, we adopted a strategic approach during the detailed assessment process.

Our detailed responses to the Defendant’s challenges, combined with targeted negotiations, enabled the parties to narrow the issues in dispute. In particular, we demonstrated why the involvement of multiple experts was essential in a medically complex childbirth claim and why the solicitor time recorded reflected the demands of the litigation.

We also successfully defended the majority of the hourly rates claimed by reference to the complexity, duration and significance of the case.

The outcome

As a result of those negotiations, the matter settled for £220,000, representing recovery of more than 94% of the total Bill of Costs without the need for a contested detailed assessment hearing.

The outcome provided our client with an excellent level of recovery while avoiding the additional time, cost and uncertainty associated with proceeding to a full assessment.

How ARC Costs can help

Clinical negligence matters frequently involve extensive expert evidence, lengthy investigations and significant costs. They also attract detailed scrutiny from paying parties, particularly in relation to hourly rates, expert fees and proportionality.

At ARC Costs, we regularly assist solicitors and law firms with:

• Drafting Bills of Costs
• Preparing Points of Reply
• Negotiating costs settlements
• Managing the detailed assessment process
• Maximising costs recovery in complex clinical negligence claims

Our experience enables us to anticipate common challenges and present costs claims in a way that puts clients in the strongest possible position to achieve a favourable outcome.

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