Costs Lawyer / Costs Draftsperson

ABOUT US

Switalskis is an award-winning law firm listed in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024.

Established in 1993 by Stephen Switalski, we began with a focus on child care law and criminal law from a single office in Wakefield. Since then we’ve expanded to 11 locations employing approximately 400 people who provide a wide array of specialist legal services.

A career at Switalskis means being part of a firm that cares and is here for you. We’re dynamic and progressive, and we never stand still. Last year we were crowned Large Firm of the Year at The Yorkshire Legal Awards and named in the top 50 fastest growing companies in Yorkshire in the Yorkshire Growth Index.

The role

We are recruiting a Costs Lawyer or Costs Draftsperson with experience in legal aid costing to join our internal costs department.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a well established internal team which continues to grow and develop and supports costs recovery across the firm in all areas, however this role would specialise in legal aid recovery.

Key Responsibilities


Whether you have a few years experience, or 30 years, we would love to hear from you!

The successful candidate will have a good working knowledge of the Costs Assessment Guidance and Civil Finance Electronic Handbook as well as a good standard of English & arithmetic.

You will need to be able to work unsupervised in at least some of the following areas:

· Care (public law)

· Family (private law)

· Court of protection (health and welfare)

· Crime (Magistrates and Crown)

Experience of using a case management system and the costmaster billing software would be advantageous.

Some experience of Court of Protection (Finance) costs (non legal aid) would also be advantageous but not essential.

What you'll be doing

· Preparation of both fixed fee and hourly rates claims in the above areas

· Preparing High Costs Case Plans for Court of Protection (Health and Welfare) and Care

· Submitting claims on the legal aid portal (CCMS) and collating accompanying documentation

· Advising fee earners

· Liaising with Counsel’s chambers in relation to claims

· Liaising with third parties where appropriate

· Preparing appeals to assessments

· Preparation of Claim 1 and 2 forms



The role can be based at any of our Yorkshire offices, although the legal aid costs team is based predominately at Bradford, and therefore travel to Bradford may be required at times. The role can be office based or hybrid.