Junior/Trainee Cost Lawyer

Are you an ambitious junior Costs professional, or someone looking to kick-start a career in costs within a leading London law firm? This is an excellent opportunity to join one of the strongest Dispute Resolution teams in the market, within a highly regarded, multi-service firm. You will benefit from exposure to industry-leading lawyers, household-name clients, and a genuine platform for long-term career development within a supportive and well-established Costs team.

The Firm is a highly regarded Legal 500, Spears and Chambers ranked law firm based in central London with an esteemed reputation for its expertise in Real Estate, Private Client, Dispute Resolution, Construction and many others. Handling high-profile, multimillion-pound deals across a variety of this multi-service law firm. The firm handles high-profile, multi-million-pound matters and offers the same quality of work as much larger City practices, without the disadvantages of being a small cog in a large machine. You will gain broad exposure across departments, early responsibility, and meaningful client-facing experience. You will find a creative, supportive, dynamic, forward-thinking and progressive culture. They invest heavily in their staff, with industry-leading training and a real platform for progression. There is a good work-life balance with hybrid working 2-3 days in the office per week. There is an excellent social scene firm-wide, with social clubs, sports clubs and regular social events paid for by the firm.

This is an exciting opportunity for a junior/trainee cost lawyer to join this Chambers, Spears & L500 ranked law firm. The junior costs professional will be part of the Costs team within the Disputes Group supporting fee earners across the firm by assisting with the preparation, negotiation, and management of legal costs. The role is suitable for a developing costs professional who is looking to build technical expertise or kick start their career within a leading law firm, working on high-quality contentious matters.

The role offers a broad and high-quality workload, consisting of:

• Assisting with the preparation of bills of costs (including detailed assessment bills) under various bases and costs regimes.
• Supporting senior costs lawyer with Points of Dispute, Replies, and schedules of costs and advices on costs issues.
• Assisting with costs budgeting, monitoring budgets, and preparing updates and variations.
• Helping to assess costs risk at different stages of litigation and advising fee earners accordingly.
• Reviewing retainers, funding arrangements, and costs correspondence to ensure compliance with procedural rules to include dealing with solicitor client disputes.
• Liaising with fee earners across departments (including Property Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Contentious Construction and Private Client disputes) on costs-related issues.
• Assisting with negotiations and settlement discussions on costs.
• Conducting legal research on costs law, CPR provisions, and recent case law developments.
• Maintaining accurate records and supporting internal reporting on costs recovery.
• Supporting the Costs team with court deadlines, assessments, and hearing preparation.
• Developing technical knowledge of CPR, Costs Practice Direction, and case law under supervision and assisting with the provision of costs training across the firm.

The role offers genuine responsibility and progression. You will be involved in the long-term development of the team’s business development activities. As you develop, you will begin to take on work more independently, with the hope to later grow the team in the future.

Requirements:

• Have prior costs experience ideally from a law firm, government department or within a costs agency.
• Someone with ambition to become a Costs Lawyer or someone who is either already on the Costs Lawyer Qualification Course or is willing to undertake it.
• Ability to work collaboratively with the Costs Manager and other costs lawyers as well as the fee earning teams.
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritise workload and competing demands across a big team to maximise speed of cashflow.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a Trainee / Junior Costs Lawyer to join a leading London firm and build a long-term career within a dynamic and forward-thinking team. Apply now for immediate consideration, or for a confidential conversation, please contact Sophie Avery at JMC Legal Recruitment.