South West Legal Community Come Together
Event marks official launch of firm’s South West office.
Members of the South West legal community came together yesterday and attended a vital costs seminar; learning more about the impact of recent changes on victims of medical negligence and personal injury.
Led by key note speaker Dominic Regan – a qualified solicitor who acted as an advisor to Lord Justice Jackson on the recent overhaul of costs budgeting and management – the event was hosted by claimant-only costs experts PIC.
The event, which welcomed some of the most prominent legal professionals from across the region, covered a number of controversial changes which have ‘overhauled’ the industry in recent years – including the introduction of capped costs, the ruling on proportionate costs and the roll out of cost budgeting.
Claimant-only costs specialists and event hosts PIC, which has been operating on a national basis for almost 20-years, also welcomed attendees to stay after the seminar to join them in celebrating the official launch of the firm’s first office in the South West.
The session, which took place at St John’s Chambers on Victoria Street in Bristol, welcomed insight from costs litigation Barrister Darren Lewis, as well as PIC’s litigation project management and budgeting expert Reuben Glynn.
Professor Dominic Regan said: “The law of costs is trickier now than ever before. Get it wrong and risk getting paid nothing. It is as simple as that. Wise guidance is of the utmost importance.”
John Plunkett, an experienced costs lawyer and Team Leader at PIC who heads up the South West office, said: “The seminar was very successful, with many of the region’s leading legal players joining us to hear from the experts themselves about the impact of recent changes within the costs law industry, as well as to help celebrate PIC’s official launch in the South West.”
The team offer a bespoke in-house service to support leading law firms to navigate a myriad of changes in the way costs in claimant cases are calculated and submitted – predominantly working with cases in areas such as clinical negligence, personal injury, professional negligence and group litigation.
John said: “Historically when PIC was established in 1996, our role was to deliver an efficient, cost effective service to law firms across the country – with a vision to build a national team of practice area specialists operating on a regional basis.
“Back then the role of a costs lawyer was to quantify the amount of profit costs and disbursements that should be charged and to prepare a Bill of Costs. Since then, the legal landscape has changed immeasurably for all who work within it, evolving and diversifying beyond recognition.
“With the introduction of capped costs and the roll out of costs budgeting it is changes such as these that have made our role so integral to cases on which we are instructed.”
Barrister Darren Lewis from St Johns Chambers spoke about costs budgeting/management at the seminar, he said: “Cost budgeting is a very prominent subject that is affecting people in the industry. This cost update was a useful opportunity for people to ask questions and understand the impact the changes have on them and provided a space for legal minds to come together and share insight and knowledge, key to moving with the recent changes.”