Costs lawyer

Join our dynamic litigation team. Lead costs strategy, draft, negotiate, mentor, and grow with expert support and varied legal work.

We're looking for a skilled and proactive Costs Lawyer, Solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive to join our Litigation Services Team (LST), supporting the firm's contentious work. Reporting to the Senior Costs Manager, Ged Courtney, and working closely with the Head of Legal Operations, Jodie Hosmer, you'll lead on costs drafting and negotiations, supervise junior team members, and provide expert advice to lawyers and clients.

You'll be involved in:

• Drafting Bills of Costs, N260s, Precedent H budgets and related documents
• Managing costs instructions from start to finish
• Advising on costs law, procedure and strategy
• Supporting training, development and business growth initiatives

You will be a Costs Lawyer, Solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive with experience in a wide range of costs litigation and a knowledge of costs law and procedure. Your background and experience will include:

• A solid understanding of litigation.
• Good drafting skills in relation to preparation of Bills of Costs, N260, Precedent H Costs Budgets and their associated Precedents.
• Experience and confidence in inter partes costs negotiations.
• The ability to produce high quality written work in the form of client advice, Points of Dispute/Reply, written submissions etc.
• Whilst not essential, advocacy experience would be desirable.
• Managing own caseload to deadlines ensuring high quality work is produced.
• Supervising junior members for example costs draftspersons, paralegals and paralegal apprentices.
• Some experience around managing multiple stakeholders will be beneficial.

You will be working with and supporting the Head of Legal Operations and the Senior Costs Manager. It is envisaged activities will include, but not be limited to the below:

• Drafting costs precedents, such as Bills of Costs (both Precedent A and S), N260, Costs Budgets (Precedent H), Budget Discussion Reports (Precedent R) and Budget Variations (Precedent T).
• Conducting costs negotiations on behalf of paying and receiving parties "cradle to grave" i.e. dealing with costs instructions from inception up to Detailed Assessment and if necessary, any appeal.
• Providing on going and ad hoc costs advice to clients and internal lawyers in relation to costs procedure, law and strategy.
• Assisting with training and development of junior staff, internal lawyers and clients.
• Supporting with business development, the LST roadshows and growing the LST.
• Considering and offering new perspectives to the way in which the LST delivers services to all practice areas and clients.
• Attending client meetings and meetings with internal teams as appropriate
• Collaborating with teams to identify process improvement opportunities.

For the full job description click the link below.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

As you'd expect, we offer a competitive salary and a wide range of benefits.

If we offer you a role, we will conduct comprehensive pre-employment screening. This screening will include, but is not limited to, a basic DBS, verification of your right to work, a three year employment history and a self-declaration to assess your character and suitability for the role. Full details of our pre-screening employment process are available upon request.

Mills & Reeve is centred on achieving more for clients, their businesses and the wider communities we serve. Our clients and their industries benefit from our knowledge and learning, and receive consistent experiences with no surprises. We tell them what they need to know when they need to know it.

We build personal relationships, with advice individually tailored to individual need. And if clients need things we don't offer, we draw on our network to give recommendations. Our 1,450 plus people and over 850 lawyers share one vision – achieving more for clients.

By joining Mills & Reeve, you'll have the chance to build your skills and experience within a firm that's not only ranked in the top 50 UK law firms, but also one that truly values their people. We're also ranked in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work list, and have been awarded Platinum Investors in People. Our mantra is "Achieve more. Together.", which we feel embodies our purpose and is more than just a catchphrase

Our values are the principles that help us fulfil our purpose. Our people shaped them and live them every day.

• We're ambitious - We aim high, we embrace new ideas and we're passionate about our work
• We're open - We communicate openly and honestly to build trust, and we do what's right
• We care - We're committed to each other, our clients, our communities and the planet
• We collaborate - We're easy to work with, we offer help willingly and we get things done – together

Everyone at Mills & Reeve brings a unique perspective and ideas to the team and we do everything we can to help each person to thrive. We're committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment, are happy to consider flexible working arrangements, and want to achieve the right balance for both our people and the firm. We encourage everyone to ask if they feel they need any workplace adjustments, and will do our best to support with these.