Mediation for costs disputes

The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) has launched a mediation service solely dedicated to resolving costs disputes. Former senior costs judge Peter Hurst, former president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers Frances McCarthy, and three costs lawyers are among the group of eight mediators offering what the ACL believes is the first service of its kind. It will initially offer telephone and face-to-face mediation and will be expanded to include early neutral evaluation, arbitration, and multi-case mediation.

ACL chairman Sue Nash says: “Despite the steady growth of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in recent years, its application to costs disputes has generally been overlooked.” Nash says there are many reasons to engage in costs ADR, including the threat of costs sanctions for failing to engage in ADR, which she says is becoming more and more prevalent.

“It can improve key performance indicators such as reducing claim life cycles and the legal costs of settlement. It can free time to spend on routine matters to help meet performance standards and improve cash flow by earlier conversion of work in progress to cash.”