• What should be in your costs agreement? Understanding the legislative requirements
• Preparing a fee estimate – how do you effectively scope your work?
• What happens when the scope changes? Updating the client
• Conditional costs agreements – what needs to go in them? What are you allowed to charge for your uplift fee?
• Professional conduct issues involving costs agreements

Suzanne Ward, Executive Costs Lawyer & Director, Pattison Hardman, Sydney 

Suzanne is a leading Australian Legal Costs Consultant and distinguished lawyer with over 16 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 also been accepted and judicially quoted as an expert witness in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Federal Court of Australia. 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 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 including College of Law, Television Education Network and Legalwise 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.

This webinar is suitable for lawyers - Australia wide and it has been designed to deliver the profesional skills compulsory CPD unit for the CPD year ending 31st March 2019.