What are Legal Costs?
Legal costs refer to the fees and expenses incurred in obtaining legal services or pursuing/defending a legal matter. Legal costs are regulated by statute, court rules, and guidelines issued by the Legal Practice Council (LPC), as well as by agreements between attorneys and clients.
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There are several main categories:
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Party-and-Party Costs
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Awarded by a court to the successful party.
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Intended to cover only the necessary legal costs incurred to prosecute or defend a matter.
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Calculated according to the applicable tariff for the court in which the matter is heard (e.g., High Court, Magistrates’ Court).
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Attorney-and-Client Costs
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Higher than party-and-party costs and include additional work done for the client that may not be recoverable from the other party.
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Usually based on a written fee agreement between attorney and client.
Attorney-and-Own-Client Costs
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The highest scale of costs.
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Covers all costs charged by the attorney to their own client, as per their mandate, regardless of whether these costs are reasonable in the party-and-party or attorney-and-client sense.
What are Legal Cost Consultants?
Legal Cost Consultants specialise in the drafting of bills of costs. They are usually appointed by other law firms to draft their bills on various court cases. They receive their instructions from other law firms to draft, settle, tax or oppose their bills of costs.
Why to Appoint an Attorney who specialises in legal costs?
An attorney practising in legal costs is not just familiar with court tariffs — they also understand the entire civil litigation process. This means they can:
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Link each item in a bill of costs to the actual litigation step taken.
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Properly motivate costs that might otherwise be challenged.
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Anticipate and deal with procedural objections at taxation.
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Ensure that all claimed costs comply with statutory requirements, court rules, and case law.
It is also essential that your costs attorney has the right of appearance in the High Court, enabling them to personally argue your matter before the Taxing Master without having to brief additional counsel. This ensures a direct, efficient, and cost-effective service.
Our Legal Costs Services
We attend to all aspects of legal costs, including:
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Drawing and opposing bills of costs (party-and-party, attorney-and-client, and attorney-and-own-client).
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Attending taxations in all court divisions, including Pretoria, Johannesburg, Mahikeng, and Polokwane — with other jurisdictions attended to on request.
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Advising on cost recovery strategies to maximise amounts recoverable from opposing parties.
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Consulting on fee agreements to ensure compliance with the Legal Practice Act and LPC Rules.
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We ensure that every bill of costs we prepare is accurate, compliant, and defensible before the Taxing Master, and that any opposing bills are scrutinised for excess or irregular charges.