We recognise that many law firms face a significant costs burden during the lifetime of a case, with fees and disbursements having to be paid whilst they, themselves, do not receive payment for work undertaken until conclusion of a successful claim.  This costs burden can be increased in Multi-Track cases which are subject to costs management.

At Deep Blue Costs, unless agreed otherwise, when preparing the Bill of Costs, we will not charge until the case has concluded and our client has been paid, thereby assisting in relation to cashflow.

With regards to Costs Budgets, a request for any payment on account is restricted to £1,000 + VAT. The balance fees will only be requested at the conclusion of the costs claim.

Where claimant cases are conducted under a Conditional Fee Agreement we will only charge a fee where our clients are successful and recover their costs. Providing we receive confirmation that, at conclusion, we will be instructed to deal with the recovery of our clients’ costs, this includes cases in which we prepare costs budgets. Where a claimant’s claim is unsuccessful, we will not charge for any work undertaken during the lifetime of the claim.

Unlike many other firms, our fees are conditional on the amount of costs recovered for our clients. For example, where we recover 80% of their fees we will only charge 80% of our fees. We do this because we are confident in our ability to achieve high costs recoveries on behalf of our clients.

All of our fee earners are extremely experienced, our core staff have substantial years' experience between them in all areas of costs law from simple personal injury claims to complex Multi-Track cases and commercial litigation.  That experience includes:

• Representing both defendants and claimants, insurers, large and small firms of solicitors, and litigants in person
• Working for some of the largest claimant and defendant solicitors and costs firms in the industry, providing us with significant insight into the practices and tactics of key industry players
• Providing a cradle-to-grave service, meaning that all of our Costs Lawyers and Costs Draftsmen have experience in all stages of costs litigation, from the preparation of costs budgets to attending detailed assessment hearings
• Conducting cases at the Court of Appeal

We take our professional duties extremely seriously and at all times consider the consequences of any action or inaction on our part.

For any such acts or omissions which results in a liability for costs or detriment to your position, we have in place Professional Indemnity Insurance with a cover limit of £500,000 per case, underwritten by one of the premier professional indemnity insurers. This is in contrast to the cover limit of £100,000 required by the Association of Costs Lawyers.

We are able to offer a bespoke service to match our clients’ individual requirements and are happy, at the outset, to spend time clarifying:

• Your reporting requirements
• The extent of any delegated authority
• Your attitude to risk and the approach you wish us to take to negotiation, including whether or not you wish to proceed to assessment
• Whether you require us to make any presentations to your board in relation to costs recovery actions
• Any other particular requirements you may have

By employing only very experienced Costs Lawyers and Costs Draftsmen, we are able to easily identify issues at the outset and progress cases efficiently and quickly at optimum cost. We do not progress cases as a matter of policy, but instead review each case on its merits, ensuring that our clients are fully advised as to the cost and potential risk of undertaking further action, thereby avoiding unnecessary costs.