Cost Recovery

Court proceedings for costs recovery

Debt recovery proceedings are not just for unpaid legal costs; this process may be used for a variety of other unpaid debts. However, costs assessment proceedings are used solely for legal cost disputes. Sometimes, costs assessment is not available or is not the best way to recover legal costs. Court proceedings can be used in certain circumstances to recover costs.

The final outcome of successful debt recovery proceedings or costs assessment is the same: a judgment, including an order that one party pays the other party a specific amount of money. In debt recovery proceedings, this can be achieved after default judgment or a contested hearing. In costs assessment, this is achieved by registering the determination as a judgment.

Our costs recovery services include:

Blue Ribbon Lawyers can handle the costs recovery process through pre-litigation, out-of-court and in-court proceedings.

• Letter of demand
• Informal negotiations
• Costs assessment proceedings
• Debt recovery proceedings

The team at Blue Ribbon Lawyers has acted for solicitors and barristers through informal and formal court proceedings to recover unpaid legal costs.

There may be two steps in the cost’s recovery process: debt recovery proceedings and enforcement proceedings.

Debt recovery proceedings

Where debt recovery proceedings are needed, Blue Ribbon Lawyers will file a Statement of Claim detailing your right to recover legal costs as a debt. The court in which the claim is commenced will depend on the amount of money claimed.

Enforcement proceedings

Once a court order has been made for payment of a specific amount of money, the next step is to recover that money.

The experts at Blue Ribbon Lawyers can enforce a court order to recover the debt relating to legal costs on behalf of a party who is owed money, by a variety of different processes including:

• Garnishee orders
• Bankruptcy
• Instalment orders