Costing Objections Sydney

Speak to the experts for an itemised bill of costs.

Our team of professionals are experts at preparing itemised bills of costs.

In every Australian state and territory, solicitors can be obliged to provide an “itemised bill” to clients on request or following a court direction.

Client requested itemised bill

In NSW and Victoria under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, a client can request an itemised bill within 30 days of receiving a lump sum bill. The itemised bill must be provided within 21 days of the client’s request. Different time limits may apply in other states and territories.

Party-party itemised bill

An itemised bill – or bill in “taxable” or “assessable” form – is also usually required to recover costs from an opposing party pursuant to a court order.

In NSW, party-party or court-ordered costs are payable on a ‘fair and reasonable’ basis, which usually reflects the costs agreement between the successful party and their solicitor. Not all costs are payable by an opposing party, and Guidelines have been published by the Costs Assessment Rules Committee with recommended hourly rates and allowances for party-party costs.

In other states and territories and federal courts, party-party costs may be assessed by reference to a fixed scale of costs.

If the parties cannot agree, the amount of costs to be paid will be determined by an independent assessor. Each state, territory and federal court system has a unique assessment process. In some court systems, there are time limits for preparing an itemised bill.

While there are similarities between a client-requested itemised bill and a party-party itemised bill, a bill in taxable or assessable form is likely to provide additional detail to enable an independent assessor to determine the appropriate costs payable.

In addition, a party-party itemised bill for taxation/assessment must reflect the costs orders made. Not all costs will be payable by an opposing party. The costs order may relate to a specific aspect of the proceedings, or a discrete event. The costs order may exclude certain types of costs. The costs order may include costs to be quantified on the ‘ordinary’ or ‘standard’ basis, and costs to be paid on the ‘indemnity’ basis for a specific period or a particular issue in the proceedings.

The ‘Indemnity Principle’

Where costs are claimed from an opposing party, the ‘indemnity principle’ applies. This means that a party cannot recover more from an opposing party than they are liable to pay to their own legal representatives.

There are also specific rules applied to GST, and the extent to which GST can be claimed from an opposing party.

What is an itemised bill of costs?

A bill of costs should describe in detail the work the solicitor performed for the client (including the person who did the work, the time taken and the charge), along with any expenses incurred. This allows the person receiving the bill of costs to consider the reasonableness of the costs.

A bill of costs will usually include the solicitor’s professional fees and barrister’s fees as well as disbursements.

Professional Costs

Professional costs reflect the time and expertise of the solicitor to conduct work for a client. This could either be a fixed amount, hourly rate or a charge based on the length of documents prepared.

Depending on the terms of the costs agreement, a solicitor is usually able to charge for phone calls, emails, drafting and reviewing documents, conferences, preparing for and also attending court on behalf of a client.

Where costs are charged pursuant to a costs agreement, an itemised bill should reflect the basis on which costs are calculated as agreed between lawyer and client.

In some cases, costs payable by one party to litigation to another are calculated in accordance with a court scale or guideline. Scale fees apply to costs payable between parties in proceedings in the High Court of Australia and Federal Court, and in family law proceedings; scale fees are also used in states and territories including Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Scale fees are likely to differ from costs charged under a costs agreement – there may be maximum or set amounts for hourly rates, and some costs will be calculated by reference to the length of documents or a set fee for a specific task.

Disbursements

Disbursements are charges incurred on behalf of a client, and may include internal charges such as photocopying and facsimile charges, as well as expenses paid such as court filing fees, barrister’s fees, expert reports and other expenses paid on behalf of a client.

The costs agreement between lawyer and client should set out whether internal expenses are payable, and how these expenses are calculated. A common example is photocopying, charged at a set rate per page. A file administration fee may be charged by a lawyer if it is disclosed to a client.

Where costs are claimed from an opposing party, the types of disbursements recoverable may be limited by legislation. In some courts and particular types of proceedings, the amount recoverable for certain disbursements can be capped.

Preparing an itemised bill

Our team are experts at drafting itemised bills.

A solicitor’s time records fulfil some of the requirements of an itemised bill, but time-recording has a different purpose to an itemised bill.

At Blue Ribbon Legal, our solicitors are experienced in proper preparation of itemised bills. This includes:

• Capturing all work performed;
• Clearly explaining every charge;
• Applying the terms of a costs agreement or scale/guidelines appropriately;
• Interpreting costs orders and understanding principles of apportionment of costs;
• Identifying costs not recoverable.

A well-prepared itemised bill will make the task of recovering costs more efficient and cost-effective.

For those who lack time or resources, are unfamiliar with the cost assessment process, or simply keep putting the task to one side, our service is a time- and labour-saving way of achieving an expertly prepared itemised bill.

Speak to the experts at Blue Ribbon Legal for an itemised bill

For expert preparation of an itemised bill, please get in touch with Blue Ribbon Legal here or call on (02) 8599 3100.