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Always choose a Costs Lawyer for expert legal costs advice
22 April 2026
Many of you will use seek professional help to assess legal costs.
In England and Wales, anyone can set up a costs advice business, regardless of whether they have qualifications, experience, insurance or regulatory oversight.
Using an unregulated costs adviser can expose you and your clients to professional, legal and financial risks. Your options for recourse are limited if the advice is wrong or negligent, if there is poor service or misconduct, or if the adviser does not have insurance or disappears from the market.
Like solicitors, costs lawyers are authorised under the Legal Services Act 2007 and are experts in legal costs. They are regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB) to conduct litigation and exercise higher rights of audience in court, so they can represent and act for clients in all matters of legal costs.
As part of this regulation, costs lawyers must:
- Hold a professional qualification from an accredited provider
- Adhere to the professional standards set out in the CLSB's code of Conduct and comply with the regulatory rules
- Remain competent by keeping their knowledge and skills up to date with continuing professional development
- Hold professional indemnity insurance commensurate with the risk of their practice
- Have a procedure for handling any complaints that might arise.
By instructing a costs lawyer, you can demonstrate due diligence in outsourcing specialist work and compliance with your regulatory obligations, as well as reduce your risk and protect your clients and insurer.
Use the CLSB's register of costs lawyers, and look out for the mark of regulation (below) on costs lawyers' communications to identify if someone is regulated. For more information on how costs lawyers are regulated see the Costs Lawyer Standards Board website.