Experienced Legal Costs Company based in the north-east of England
Cosgrove Costing Limited is a team of Cost Lawyers and bill drafters based in the North East, preparing bills of costs in civil litigation, personal injury, family and criminal cases for clients nationwide.
Cosgrove Costing Limited was founded in 1990 by Ian Cosgrove. At that time he was employed by a local firm of solicitors as a legal executive and started working independently in his spare time. From those humble beginnings, the business has grown into one of the most well-established legal costs firms in the region.
With over 30 years' experience we prepare bills of costs in civil litigation, personal injury and family cases, often dealing with lengthy and complex negotiations. We are also one of the few remaining firms that handle criminal proceedings, and we are regularly instructed by Defendants' insurers and solicitors to oppose Claimants' bills of costs.
Cosgrove Costing Limited is a registered company in England. Company Registration No. 10960405.
Registered office: Unit 7, The Hub, New Century House, Crowther Road, Washington, Tyne & Wear, NE38 0AQ.
We offer a comprehensive range of legal costs services from inception to conclusion, representing nationwide clients from independent firms to large insurers, as both paying and receiving parties.
We prepare bills of costs for all types of legal matter, with fee earners specialising in commercial, personal injury, criminal and family law. Using up to date software, we produce everything from publicly funded bills to complex multi-party inter partes bills.
We aim for a rapid turnaround on points of dispute, acting for a number of large national legal firms and insurers. As part of our all-encompassing service we return a costs advice alongside the points of dispute.
Our experience makes us highly skilled at negotiating bills of costs. We have an impressive success rate for achieving maximum costs for receiving parties, and minimising costs for paying parties.
We regularly conduct detailed assessment hearings across the country and can accept instructions to act as agents throughout the North Eastern circuit. Ian Cosgrove has an excellent reputation in our regional Courts.
We advise on all aspects of your costing needs. Thanks to our extensive experience we can advise on appropriate settlement parameters, maximising your costs and dealing with costing queries.
We prepare and challenge cost budgets and regularly appear at Costs Management Conferences alongside Counsel or the conducting solicitor.
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Ian began his career as a legal executive for a local firm of solicitors, spending 19 years dealing with both criminal work and civil litigation before founding Cosgrove Costing Limited.
He became an Associate of the Association of Law Cost Draftsmen in 1993, gaining Fellowship status by examination in 1997, and was one of the first Fellows bestowed with Costs Lawyer status in 2007. As a Costs Lawyer, Ian has the right to conduct reserved legal activities under the Legal Services Act 2007, enabling him to conduct costs litigation in his own right and to act directly for insurance companies and litigants in person.
Ian regularly attends detailed assessment hearings in the County Court across the North of England and in the Senior Court Costs Office, both preparing bills of costs and challenging other parties' costs. He is one of the few Costs Lawyers who still undertakes criminal work, and was recently involved in an important central funds appeal in the Senior Court Costs Office where he successfully challenged a decision of the National Taxing Team to reduce a high value bill by over £200,000.
Since the introduction of cost budgeting, Ian has built a significant following among both Claimants' and Defendants' solicitors for preparing and challenging cost budgets. He is a member of the Association of Costs Lawyers and is regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board.
Contact Ian directly: 0191 5166231 · send a message
Ian has worked in the law since 1977. After more than 15 years with the Legal Aid Agency, he became a full time costs professional in 1994. He became a Member of the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen in 1995, an Associate in 2000 and a Fellow in 2002. He qualified as a Costs Lawyer in 2009 and, as a result of his experience in the field, has achieved Fellow Costs Law status.
Ian has considerable experience dealing with all types of costs cases including clinical negligence, personal injury and Court of Protection. He acts as a Consultant to London firms handling larger corporate work including intellectual property and professional negligence cases.
He regularly drafts Bills of Costs, Points of Dispute and Replies, and has extensive experience in Cost Budgeting work, regularly appearing at Costs and Case Management Hearings.
Contact Ian Black: 0191 5166230 · send a message
Costs Lawyer
Paul graduated from Durham University in 2007 and began working in costs with Ian Black in 2010. He qualified as a Costs Lawyer in 2015.
He specialises in Family Legal Aid billing, in particular high costs case contract work.
Costs Lawyer
Zobia has worked in costs for 8 years, qualifying as a Costs Lawyer in 2022. She has experience working on high value clinical negligence and personal injury claims involving catastrophic injuries.
Her work involves preparing detailed Bills of Costs and Cost Budgets and undertaking Costs Management negotiations. She is experienced in all aspects of the Detailed Assessment process, preparing both Points of Dispute and Replies to challenges to her bills.
Behind every good costs draftsman is a strong admin team, and we are fortunate to have exactly that: ready, willing and able to promptly answer any query our clients have of us.
“I have used Ian Cosgrove for several years now, particularly with regard to heavy or complicated cases. The service is second to none. His advice is technically skilful, but above all entirely pragmatic. He is a persuasive advocate and respected by the Costs Judges before whom he appears. I would have no hesitation in recommending his services.”
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help with your costing requirements.