Costs Law Forum
This all-inclusive program will cover issues that every lawyer should be across when dealing with costs and clients. You will gain information, insights and best practices to keep your files, practice or firm running smoothly. Attend this webinar and work out how to disclose costs, resolve disputes and gain practical tips to effectively recover your costs. Earn your core CPD points in this exceptional and dedicated program. WEB2211N22Z
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units including:
1 unit in Practice Management & Business Skills
3 units in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Chair: Chris Wall, Costs Assessor, Review Panellist, Walker Gibbs & King
Professional Skills
9.00am to 10.00am Effective Drafting in Costs Law: Costs Agreements and Bills
- Key requirements for costs agreements and disclosure statements
- Drafting bills and invoices: pitfalls to look out for
- Navigate your way around the costs assessment process
Presented by Dipal Prasad, Director, Law in Check
Professional Skills
10.00am to 11.00am Costs Disclosures
Join experienced practitioner Philippe Doyle Gray who will unpick when to do it, how to do it, and what happens to your boss if you don’t.
Presented by Philippe Doyle Gray, Barrister, 8 Wentworth Chambers
11.00am to 11.10am Break
Practice Management & Business Skills
11.10am to 12.10pm Costs Recovery
- Effective recovery of costs: process simplified
- Practical tips
- Negotiating costs with the other side
- Ethical considerations
Presented by Suzanne Ward, Special Counsel, Pattison Hardman Pty Ltd
12.10pm to 1.15pm Closing comments from Chair
Presenters
Dipal Prasad
Dipal is committing to working closely with, and being the voice for, individuals and businesses who have been charged unreasonable legal costs by a law practice. Reducing costs liability for such individuals and businesses is her priority. Dipal is also committed to educating law practices to comply with all their obligations so they avoid having their fees challenged by their clients. Dipal completed her Bachelor of Laws (Honours) with a Bachelor of Business and Commerce and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice in 2012. She obtained a Master of Laws in Corporate and Commercial Law from the University of London in 2020, with academic leadership from University College London and Queen Mary University of London. She is currently completing her MBA from the University of New South Wales. Having worked in building and construction, personal injury, insurance, motor vehicle accident, strata and property law prior to establishing herself in legal costing, Dipal’s litigation knowledge is broad and extensive. Dipal has a strong interest in every facet of legal costing with experience in costs disputes arising from the full spectrum of litigation in Family Court, Federal Court, High Court, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and Victorian jurisdictions. As part of this interest, Dipal presents lectures on legal costing to law firms and legal organisations and contributes to legal costing academia through writing articles for the ‘Precedent’ journal, and articles for the Blackstone Brief and Australian Lawyer Alliance publications. Dipal is also a Court Appointed Costs Assessor (Supreme Court of Queensland).
Philippe Doyle Gray
Philippe is a barrister at 8 Wentworth Chambers in Sydney. With nearly 20 years’ experience at the Bar, he maintains a diverse civil law practice, ranging from commercial and equity matters, to professional negligence, professional disciplinary matters and disputes between legal professionals and their clients regarding legal costs and disbursements. Philippe is also often briefed to advise and appear in civil litigation in which allegations of criminality, fraud, or other serious misconduct are made. Possessing an avid interest in the law and its interaction with technology, Philippe is a forward-thinking and progressive barrister who, through technological innovation, seeks to enhance the cost-effectiveness and delivery of justice to make litigation affordable for all. He has published a book about the ethical use of technology in legal practice and has achieved professional certification in Legal Project Management both domestically and in the USA (the first barrister so certified). A pioneer in integrating information and communications technology into legal practice, Philippe has run a paperless practice for over a decade. Having equipped his chambers with high-quality audio-visual equipment and videoconference software used for remote conferencing with rural and interstate solicitors years before Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Philippe adds significant value for clients as they traverse the difficulties and complexities brought about by the pandemic.
Suzanne Ward
Suzanne is a leading Australian Legal Costs Consultant and distinguished lawyer with over 20 years’ experience. During this time, Suzanne has refined her skills in resolving costing disputes in all forms of litigation for both national and international legal firms. Suzanne has been accepted and judicially quoted as an expert witness in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Federal Court of Australia in multiple judgments. Suzanne is often called upon to cost large complex matters, supply expert legal reports, conduct conciliation conferences and to act as an advocate in legal taxation hearings in high value commercial litigations for multinational clients. Suzanne is also an adjunct law lecturer and is published frequently on legal and regulatory developments in legal industry journals and is regularly called upon to present costing and legal education seminars for leading legal education providers to advise lawyers on how to comply with costs rules, legal profession legislation and professional standards, including expert briefs from the Law Society of New South Wales.