Willis Legal was established in May 2000. We are based in Neath’s historic Town Centre and whilst we have an extensive client base within South West Wales, recent expansion has seen us attract firms from London and South East England. We have built our reputation on providing clients with a professional, knowledgeable and trustworthy service.

Our four principals David Willis, Robert Buchan, James Morgan and Darren Price are members of the Association of Costs Lawyers. Accordingly, you can be assured that we are professionally regulated.

All of our draftsmen receive regular training to ensure that their knowledge is up to date. In addition to our experienced Costs Lawyers and Costs Draftsmen, we benefit from the experience of Mr Hugh Jarrett, Costs Consultant with 20 years experience as a non-practising Solicitor with the Legal Aid Agency and 10 years in the High Cost Case Unit concentrating on clinical negligence and child care cases.

Willis Legal offers experience and expertise in all aspects of costs.

We are regulated cost lawyers - we

understand and respect our responsibilities to our clients on a professional and personal level.

willislegal.co.uk

SERVICES

willislegal.co.uk

Advocacy

We have a dedicated Civil Litigation Team with a wealth of experience in all aspects of Civil and Commercial costs. Our client base ranges from the Sole Practitioner to Multi-Partner Firms to Public Authorities.

We provide the following services:

• Preparation of Points of Dispute and Replies

• Preparation of Requests for Provisional and Detailed Assessment

• Attendance at Detailed Assessment Hearings

• Attendance at Appeals against Provisional Assessment

We act for both Claimant and Defendant and pride ourselves on obtaining excellent results based upon our experience, sound advice and attention to detail.

Our Principals are Costs Lawyers and are up-to-date with relevant Case Law and the Civil Procedure Rules.

Costs Management

and Negotiations

We have a dedicated Civil Litigation Team with increasing expertise in Costs Management. We prepare Precedent H Forms for both Claimant and Defendant.

We will supply electronic copies of the Costs Budgets in both Word and Excel formats. Our Principals are experienced Costs Advocates and are available for attendance at Costs Management Hearings.

We also have a particular interest in undertaking costs negotiations upon your behalf and have a reputation for delivering excellent results.

Our Principals are Costs Lawyers and are up-to-date with relevant Case Law and the Civil Procedure Rules.

Bill Preparation

We have a dedicated Legal Aid Team with a wealth of experience in all aspects of Legal Aid costs. As a preferred supplier to one of the largest providers of Legal Aid services in the UK, we are experts in the fields of Immigration-Asylum, Possession of Property and/or Demotion of Tenancy and Judicial Review.

We also have a particular interest and are experts in the fields of Child Care and Clinical Negligence.

We prepare:

• Claim 1, Claim 1A and Claim 2 Forms• Detailed Bills of Costs for Assessment• EX80 Forms• High Costs Case Plans• Events Case Plans

Our Principals are members of the ACL Legal Aid Group and we ensure that all members of the Legal Aid Team are up-to-date with any changes to the Legal Aid Regulations thus ensuring rejections are kept to a minimum.

We have a dedicated Civil Litigation Team with a wealth of experience in all aspects of Civil and Commercial costs, including Court of Protection Costs. Our client base ranges from the Sole Practitioner to Multi-Partner Firms to Public Authorities.

We prepare:

• Bills of Costs for Provisional Assessment• Bills of Costs for Detailed Assessment• Costs Estimates• Statements of Costs for Summary

Assessment

Our Principals are Costs Lawyers and are up-to-date with relevant Case Law and the Civil Procedure Rules.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

• We will email you upon receipt of your file and inform you of the contact details of your allocated Costs Lawyer or Costs Draftsman. They will be available for any queries you may have and advise you when the file will be returned

• We will contact your Barrister’s Chambers to obtain any missing fees for inclusion in the Bill of Costs and/or Claim Form

• We will provide a copy of the Bill of Costs and/or Claim Form

• We will prepare an Assessment Bundle in support of your claim for costs

• We will arrange collection of your files of papers by Courier within 24 hours

We have a competitive fee structure, which includes the provision of copy bills/claim forms and the collection and return of files to your office by courier.

We offer an efficient turnaround of files, we aim to return your files within 10 working days, and an expedited service is available upon request.

Professional

Knowledgeable

Trustworthy

“We have always found Willis LS to provide a fast, friendly and efficient service. They have dealt with a great number of our Bills over the past 10 years involving Personal Injury Litigation. Both lower and higher level Bills have been prepared.

Their service in respect of the preparation of Summary Assessment Bills in Fast Track cases is very good since these often have to be prepared at short notice and with a turnaround of only a few working days.

Willis LS will also collect and return files to our offices thereby reducing postage costs.

In particular David Willis has represented us recently at detailed assessment hearings on behalf of local authority clients and proved by his results to be an excellent advocate.

It is also much appreciated that the draftsmen will make themselves available to discuss over the phone their Bills and costs offers received from Defendants. This has been helpful in the past in deciding on an appropriate course of action in the inevitable and sometimes protracted costs negotiations.”

Jeremy Wolfe – Head of Insurance Team at Douglas Jones Mercer

“Proactive and efficient. The turnaround times for detailed and challenging costs claims/bills is excellent and the team are always available for advice and strategic input.”

Jason Williams – Litigation Team at Morgan La Roche

“I have used Willis Legal Services for many years, and intend to continue doing so for many to come. The service they offer is second-to-none, and is always prompt, reasonably priced and backed with thorough, sensible advice.”

Richard Howells – Litigation Team at John Collins & Partners

“We have been a client of Willis Legal Services Ltd. for many years. They have undertaken the preparation of our Bills of Costs in substantial asbestos related disease cases (we do no other work). Our files have been dealt with in an efficient and timely manner and results at assessment hearings have been positive. Any issues that have arisen have been dealt with thoroughly and promptly. We also value the friendly and personal service that they offer. In addition the collection and delivery of files is an added convenience”.

Jeffrey Parsons – Principal – J.M. Parsons & Co

“Having used Willis Legal Services for many years I have found them to consistently provide an efficient, effective and professional service whilst being approachable at all times”

Meriel East – Family Team at Hutchinson Thomas Solicitors

TESTIMONIALS

willislegal.co.uk 01639 632896 | enquiries@willislegal.co.uk

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

These Terms and Conditions apply to the provision of the services detailed in our Agreement/Quotation by Willis Legal Services a Company registered in England and Wales under Number 4530087 whose Registered Office is at Butterfield Morgan, Druslyn House, De-La-Beche Street, Swansea, SA1 3HJ to the person or Company buying the services.

You are deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions when you accept our quotation or from the date of any performance of the services (whichever happens earlier) and these Terms and Conditions and our Quotation are the entire Agreement between us.

ServicesWe will use reasonable care and skill in our performance of the services which will comply with the Agreement/Quotation. We will use our reasonable endeavours to

complete the performance of the services within the time agreed or as set out in the Quotation.

FeesThe fees for the services are set out in the Table below and are on a time and materials basis. In addition to the fees we can recover from you (a) reasonable incidental expenses including, but not limited to, travelling expenses, hotel costs, subsisdence and any associated expenses, and (b) the cost of services provided by third parties and required by us for the performance of the services.

The fees are exclusive of any applicable VAT.

Service Case Type Costs Lawyer Law Costs Draftsman

Detailed Bill of Costs Legal Aid (Family) 5% of Profit Costs as Drawn. 5% of Profit Costs as Drawn.

Legal Aid (Civil) 6% of Profit Costs as Drawn. 6% of Profit Costs as Drawn.

All Other6% of Base Profit Costs as Drawn.

6% of Base Profit Costs as Drawn.

LAA Forms As above save that a minimum charge of 30 minutes at the prescribed hourly rate will apply. In cases where the allowable Bill preparation time exceeds the percentage charge, then the allowable fee will be claimed.

High Costs Case Plans All Cases 5% of Profit Costs as drawn for pre-contract work and 5 - 8 hours at the prescribed hourly rate for preparing HCC Plan.

5% of Profit Costs as drawn for pre-contract work and 5 - 8 hours at the prescribed hourly rate for preparing HCC Plan.

Events Case Plan All Cases 5 - 8 hours at the appropriate prescribed hourly rate.

5 - 8 hours at the appropriate prescribed hourly rate.

Completion of EX80 Post Assessment

All Cases Fixed fee of £25.00 Fixed fee of £25.00

Costs Budgets All Cases £111.00 per hour.

Advocacy at Costs Management Hearing

All Cases £146.00 per hour.

Costs Estimates; Statements of Costs for Summary Assessment / Negotiation

All Cases £111.00 per hour. £111.00 per hour

Costs Negotiations All Cases £111.00 per hour £111.00 per hour

Points of Dispute All Cases £125.00 per hour.

Points of Reply All Cases £125.00 per hour

Detailed Assessment Hearings and Appeals against Provisional Assessment

All Cases £146.00 per hour.

PaymentWe will invoice you for payment of the fees either: (a) when we have completed the services; or (b) on the invoice dates set out in the Quotation.You must pay the fees due within 28 days of the date of our invoice.

Without limiting any other right or remedy we have for statutory interest if you do not pay within the period set out above, we will charge you interest at the rate of 8% per annum above the base lending rate of the Bank of England from time to time on the amount outstanding until payment is received in full.

Receipts for payment will be issued.