Costs Draftsman

Ison Harrison Solicitors, the Yorkshire Law Firm, employs 450+ people across 25 offices.

We are 100% employee-owned, so each employee has a part to play in shaping the future of the firm. Employee-ownership also means that profit share payments are distributed, tax-free, to employees with 12+ months’ service at the end of our financial year.

Employees are encouraged to Join in, Influence and Benefit.

Please see our Benefits page for details of our profit share scheme and other Employee Benefits.

Our values are: 100%; Responsible; Supportive; Adaptable; Open & Transparent; Progressive; Community and Authentic. These values are at the heart of everything we do, when dealing with both clients and colleagues.

We are recruiting for a Costs Lawyer/Law Costs Draftsman to join our growing Costs team on a full-time basis at our Head Office, in Leeds City Centre.

Role Description

This is a full-time role for a Costs Lawyer/ Law Costs Draftsman at Ison Harrison Solicitors our Duke House office in Leeds. The role will eventually involve managing a diverse caseload of various cost matters including drafting bills of costs, negotiating settlements, preparing budgets and points of dispute.

The costs work consists of Claimant clinical negligence, personal injury, inquest, professional negligence and historic sexual abuse claims along with some Defendant housing disrepair matters.

Ison Harrison are the incumbent winners of the Yorkshire Legal Awards best Clinical Negligence, Inquest and Personal Injury teams and you can expect to work on good quality cases.

The team works for both internal and external clients, supporting fee earners in managing cost issues proactively, ensuring compliance with procedural rules and funding requirements. The team benefits from admin support to enable you to focus on drafting and negotiating.

Key Responsibilities

• Preparation of traditional three-column Bills of Costs.
• Preparation of Precedent S Bills of Costs and Precedent H documents.
• Preparation of Points of Dispute and Replies to Points of Dispute.
• Analysis of costs offers, preparing advice on costs issues, and undertaking costs negotiations.
• Flexibility and adaptability in handling a varied caseload, prioritising tasks, and meeting deadlines.
• Good IT skills and use of a case management system.
• Liaising with clients, solicitors, and other legal professionals.

The Ideal Candidate Will Have

• Experience as a Costs Lawyer/ Law Costs Draftsman.
• Degree education or comparative work experience.
• Excellent attention to detail and strong analytical skills.
• A proactive approach and a willingness to learn.
• Good knowledge of IT systems, including Microsoft Word and Excel.

Salary : Dependant on skills and experience. Please include your current salary and salary expectations within your application.

Location : Duke House, 54 Wellington Street, Leeds LS12EE

Job Type: Full-time, Permanent

Benefits

Our range of benefits includes:

• Profit sharing scheme (tax-free on payments up to £3,600 per year), subject to 12+ months employment at the end of the calendar year.
• Holiday entitlement starting at 23 days, increasing to 26 days after 1 year and 31 days after 5 years’ service (pro-rata for part-time employees).
• Salary sacrifice pension scheme (subject to HMRC eligibility) with 5% Employer contributions.
• Death in Service Life Assurance (3 times salary).
• Private Health Insurance after 1 year’s employment.
• Enhanced maternity pay after 2 years’ employment.
• Enhanced paternity pay after 2 years’ employment.
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme to support health & wellbeing, including free counselling for employees, family members (household) and their dependants.
• Paycare Health Cash Plan to help with the cost of optical, dental and other health expenses for employees and their dependants (employee paid contributions).
• Discounted bus travel.
• Payroll giving scheme for tax-free charitable donations.
• £1,000.00 finder’s fee for new employee recruitment referrals.
• Professional membership/subscription support.
• Interest-free loan for annual train or bus pass
• Free conveyancing on your main residential property after 1 year’s employment
• A free will after 1 year’s employment.
• Regular social events including summer BBQ and a Christmas party.
• Annual business briefing for the whole firm.

Equal Opportunities

Ison Harrison is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on any grounds other than the ability to carry out the job specification.