Costs Lawyer / Solicitor

About Us

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals and over 600 staff based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges or opportunities that they may face.

Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do. RollOnFriday recently ranked us as the 6th best law firm to work at in 2026.

With our ambition to succeed, comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 42% of our partnership.

The team you will join

Our client base is diverse and ranges from individuals to multinational corporations, via legal professionals across the civil litigation sector, with a particular emphasis in the insurance, shipping, commercial litigation, property litigation, construction and social housing sectors.

The work you will be doing

• Prepare/Assess Bills of Costs, draft Points of Dispute/Replies to Points of Dispute, advise clients on settlement parameters and negotiate with opponents

Costs management - Prepare Precedent H, Precedent R or simplified costs budgeting equivalent, engage in budget discussions and potentially attend hearings

Prepare Statements of Costs

Provided ad hoc advice on costs issues

Keep abreast of legal updates and provide updates to the wider team

Maintain accurate time-costing procedures

Ensure compliance with file management

Provide supervision to team members

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

What we are looking for

We are seeking an ambitious, driven and forward-thinking Costs Lawyer or Costs Solicitor

• A strong academic background
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience
• Prior supervisory experience an advantage
• Clear understanding and application of civil procedure rules relating to costs
• Costs negotiation experience essential
• Experience of social housing disrepair and/or Court of Protection preferable.
• Excellent attention to detail together with analytical and organisational skills.

Committed team player who can adapt well to new challenges.

Strong ability to work to tight deadlines

Ability to use own initiative and show sound judgement

Strong IT Skills - familiar with Microsoft Office applications and document management skills

Hybrid Working

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. This role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week.

Benefits

As a Birketts colleague, you will be eligible to receive a wide range of benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays
• Long Service holiday award - 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid CSR Day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave

Subsidised gym membership

Electric car scheme

Dress for your Day Policy

You can find out more on our website: https://www.birketts.co.uk/recognition-reward-benefits/

Inclusivity and Culture

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth.

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.