What We Do

At ARC Costs, we have a team of highly skilled Costs Draftsmen and Costs Lawyers who utilize their legal and technical knowledge to ensure you recover the maximum amount of legal costs. By operating a 5 working day SLA turnaround on instructions, we can ensure that you receive prompt advice and also our expert assistance in achieving the best outcome on negotiations. Within the team, we have over twenty years’ negotiating experience, with a breadth of knowledge in various types of claims such as personal injury, judicial review, medical negligence, commercial disputes and industrial disease.

We operate a digital remote law costing service which provides us with the ability to assist law firms throughout England and Wales.

Drafting and Negotiating your Bill of Costs

Throughout the entire process of the claim, we can offer detailed advice to benefit the recovery of legal costs. On the successful conclusion of you case, if an Order/Part 36 acceptance provides for assessment of your legal costs, we will produce your Bill of Costs. In order to compose an accurate Bill of Costs, we will require access to your file. This will allow us to review and detail the work done on the case within the bill.

Consequently, it is vital that you instruct an experienced Law Costs Draftsman or Costs Lawyer to prepare your Bill of Costs.

As well as preparing your Bill of Costs, we can assist throughout the detailed assessment process, and can conduct proceedings on your behalf.

We are also experienced in negotiating Bills of Costs, whether for the paying or receiving party. We can do this by composing or responding to Points of Dispute, the latter with Points of Reply. Generally we can dispute or defend items such as hourly rates, proportionality of the costs to damages and the level of Counsel fees.

If you are a paying party, we can assist in negotiation by providing Points of Reply. 

What are effective strategies for negotiating inter-partes costs?

Effective negotiation of inter-partes costs requires a combination of detailed preparation, strategic communication, and a strong understanding of the costs rules under the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). Key strategies include:

• Thorough analysis of the bill of costs: Identify any unreasonable, excessive, or duplicated time entries and disbursements.

• Relying on precedent and case law: Support challenges or offers with reference to recent authorities and guideline hourly rates to strengthen your position.

• Making realistic and well-evidenced offers: Proposing reasonable settlement figures through Part 36 or Calderbank offers can demonstrate reasonableness and protect against adverse costs consequences.

• Prioritising key areas of dispute: Focus on the most significant cost items or phases, rather than minor points, to achieve meaningful reductions or quicker settlements.

• Maintaining professional communication: Adopting a cooperative and constructive tone often leads to more productive negotiations and avoids unnecessary detailed assessment hearings.

At ARC Costs, our experienced costs draftsmen and negotiators use these strategies to secure the best possible outcomes for our clients; whether pursuing or defending inter-partes costs claims.

Why Choose ARC Costs?

As experienced Cost Draftsmen and Cost Negotiators, we have gained knowledge which allows us to be highly effective in our work, as well as having developed strong business relationships amongst the legal costs community. Ultimately, our experts can provide you with an outstanding service, which can be relied upon to produce the best results.

We can be contacted by email at info@arccosts.co.uk, or by telephone on 01204 397302. For more information on legal costs, please find out more about our speciality areas of expertise and our services on our legal costs page.

What We Do Best

Our dedicated and experienced law costing team provide a wide array of legal costs services to fee earners and solicitors. Find out more by following the links below.