Outsourcing Costs Drafting

For a firm deciding whether to send its costs work out: what firms outsource, when it pays and when in-house is better, and how instructing DMD Costs works.

DMD Costs is a law costs drafting firm based in Greater Manchester, instructed by claimant solicitor firms across England and Wales.

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Key points

Firms outsource bills of costs and Precedent S bills, Replies to Points of Dispute, Precedent H budgets, N260 statements of costs and negotiation; DMD Costs takes on one file, a batch of files or overflow work.

Outsourcing tends to suit uneven volume, bunched deadlines and specialist work; keeping it in-house is usually better where the volume is steady and large enough to keep a costs team fully occupied.

Files are uploaded through the DMD Costs client portal or the DMD Portal app, and stay with the practitioner named on the file.

The instructing solicitor retains conduct of the matter. Drafting a bill, a budget or Replies is not generally regarded as a reserved legal activity in itself; where a task does fall within the conduct of litigation, the Court of Appeal held in CILEX v Mazur that it may be carried out for and on behalf of an authorised individual who retains responsibility for it, with proper supervision arrangements in place.

Across our settled files, average recovery is above 70% of the bill as drafted.

The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, our agreed fee is payable when your firm receives the recovered costs from the paying party.

What Firms Outsource

A claimant firm can keep its costs work in-house, send all of it to a costs firm, or do both, sending files out when the volume or the deadlines call for it. We take on one file, a batch of files or overflow work, across the whole of the costs process:

bills of costs, paper bills and Precedent S electronic bills;
Replies to Points of Dispute;
Precedent H costs budgets, with Precedent R budget discussion reports and Precedent T variations;
N260 statements of costs for summary assessment; and
negotiation of the costs to settlement.

Mainly instructed by claimant solicitor firms across England and Wales — individuals and litigants in person can contact us too.

When Outsourcing Pays, and When In-House Is Better

Sending costs work out tends to suit a firm when:

settlements arrive unevenly, so a costs team would be stretched one month and short of work the next;
deadlines bunch up: each bill has its own 3-month period for commencing detailed assessment (CPR 47.7), and each set of Points of Dispute its own 21 days for a Reply (CPR 47.13);
fee earners’ time is worth more on live claims than on drawing bills from closed files;
the work needs a specialism the firm does not keep in-house, such as Precedent S coding or costs budgeting; or
the firm wants the cost of each file fixed before the work starts.

Keeping it in-house is usually better when:

the volume is steady and large enough to keep a costs team fully occupied;
the firm already has costs specialists with time to spare;
the work is bound up with running the case, such as a statement of costs for a short hearing that the fee earner preparing for it can draw up as part of that preparation; or
the firm wants every step, negotiation included, handled by the people who ran the claim.

Some firms do both: routine work in-house, and overflow, specialist or deadline work sent out.

How Instruction Works

Enquiry. Tell us about the file through our contact page or by phone on 07900 008720.
Fixed fee. We look at the papers and agree the fee with you before any work begins.
Papers. Your firm uploads the file through the DMD Costs client portal, or the DMD Portal app for iPhone and Android.
A named practitioner. The file stays with the practitioner named on it, and you can track its progress on the portal.
Your firm keeps conduct. We prepare the costs documentation and support your team through the process. The instructing solicitor retains conduct of the matter.

Drafting a bill, a budget or Replies is not generally regarded as a reserved legal activity in itself: it is work done for and on behalf of your firm, which keeps conduct of the matter throughout. Where a task does fall within the conduct of litigation, the Court of Appeal held in CILEX v Mazur [2026] EWCA Civ 369 that it may be carried out for and on behalf of an authorised individual who retains responsibility for it, with proper supervision arrangements in place. Decisions on the claim, including whether an offer is made, accepted or rejected, stay with your firm. If a bill goes to a contested hearing, we arrange the advocate (counsel or a Costs Lawyer) and prepare the papers.

Security and Data Protection

Files come to us through our secure client portal, uploaded directly into our system rather than through third-party file transfer apps or document-sharing platforms, which keeps file transfer, document management and matter updates within the DMD Costs system. The DMD Portal app is reached with a portal account we issue to a named person at your firm, and it shows only your firm’s own matters. Our privacy policy sets out how we handle the personal data in a costs file and the measures we use to protect it, such as access controls and staff confidentiality obligations.

Who Does the Work

The work stays with the practitioners named on the file.

Diellza Nika Hyseni, law costs draftsperson and Managing Director: 15+ years in legal costs. She leads clinical negligence costs and costs budgeting, and gives senior oversight of the practice’s technical work.
Mentor Nika, law costs draftsman and Head of Housing Disrepair Costs: 6+ years in claimant legal costs. He leads housing disrepair and MoD NIHL costs.
Rheanna Parkinson, costs draftsperson: two years in costs drafting, mainly bills of costs in MoD NIHL claims.

We do not publish case results we have not produced. Across our settled files, average recovery is above 70% of the bill as drafted. Beyond that, what we offer as evidence is named responsibility for the work and published guidance you can check against the rules yourself. Our costs drafting services page sets out everything we do.

Fixed Fee Agreed Before Instructions

The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins. A first draft bill is normally returned within five working days of complete papers. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, our agreed fee is payable when your firm receives the recovered costs from the paying party.

Frequently asked questions

The practitioner named on your file. Diellza Nika Hyseni, law costs draftsperson and Managing Director, with more than 15 years' experience in legal costs, leads clinical negligence costs and costs budgeting. Mentor Nika, law costs draftsman and Head of Housing Disrepair Costs, with more than six years' experience in claimant legal costs, leads housing disrepair and MoD NIHL costs. Rheanna Parkinson, costs draftsperson, mainly drafts bills of costs in MoD NIHL claims.

Through the DMD Costs client portal, or the DMD Portal app for iPhone and Android, using a portal account we issue to a named person at your firm. Documents are uploaded straight into our system rather than sent as email attachments or through third-party transfer tools, and you can track the progress of each file on the portal.

Conduct of the claim. The instructing solicitor retains conduct of the matter and overall responsibility for the litigation, decides whether an offer is made, accepted or rejected, and signs what the rules require the party or its legal representative to sign, such as a statement of costs (PD 44 para 9.5(3)).

The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins. It depends on the work and on how complete the papers are, so we quote after seeing them. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, our agreed fee is payable when your firm receives the recovered costs from the paying party.

No. You can use us whenever you need us, whether that is one file, a batch of files or overflow work.