Friston on Civil Costs, 4th Edition

Part 1: History and development of costs
1: A Brief History of Costs

Part 2: Introduction to the law of costs
2: The Language of Costs
3: The Nature of Costs
4: The Status of the Rules Governing Costs
5: The Court's Powers Regarding Costs

Part 3: Orders for costs
6: Orders for Costs (Jurisdiction and Discretion)
7: Orders for Costs (Particular Circumstances)
8: Orders for Costs (Qualified One-way Costs Shifting)
9: Orders for Costs (Non-party Costs Orders and Wasted Costs)
10: Orders for Costs (Clarification and Revision of Orders)
11: Orders for Costs (Costs-Only Proceedings)

Part 4: Orders regarding costs
12: Costs Management and Cost Budgeting
13: Costs Capping and Related Topics
14: Payments on Account of Costs
15: Security for Costs

Part 5: Bases of costs and Part 36
16: The Bases of Assessment (Indemnity Basis and Standard Basis)
17: Part 36 Offers

Part 6: Points of law regarding costs
18: The Indemnity Principle
19: Plural Liability for and Plural Entitlement to Costs
20: Distribution: Apportionment and Division of Costs
21: Mutual Liabilities and Set-off
22: Agency and Costs
23: Finality, Delay and Limitation
24: Human Rights and the Law and Costs

Part 7: The overriding objective, proportionality, and relief from sanctions
25: Proportionality and Costs
26: The Overriding Objective, Collective Proportionality and Relief from Sanctions

Part 8: Agreements between legal services provider and client
27: Contracts of Retainer (General Principles)
28: Contracts of Retainer, etc (Consumer Issues)
29: Contracts of Retainer (Conditional Fee Agreements and damages based agreements)
30: Contracts of Retainer (Champerty and Maintenance)
31: Contracts of Retainer (Interpretation and Implied Terms)
32: Contracts of Retainer (Transfer of Contracts of Retainer and the Management of Errors)

Part 9: Agreements with Funders and Insurers
33: Litigation Funding
34: Legal Expenses Insurance

Part 10: Costs as between solicitor and client
35: Invoices and Bills
36: Solicitor and Client Assessments
37: The Basis of Assessment Between Solicitor and Client
38: Quantum Between Solicitor and Client
39: Clients' Rights and Remedies: Alternative Means of Resolving Disputes and Compromise
40: Solicitors' Rights and Remedies: Proceedings, Lien, Charging Orders, and Equitable Interference

Part 11: Practice Issues
41: Legal Project Management
42: Value-based pricing and practising without recording time

Part 12: Assessments, appeals and ADR between opposing parties
43: Detailed Assessments Between Opposing Parties
44: Summary Assessments
45: Costs Appeals and Reviews
46: Evidential Issues and Privilege
47: Representation and Rights of Audience
48: Alternative Dispute Resolution of Costs Disputes

Part 13: Quantification of costs between opposing parties
49: The Assessment of Costs in General (including the assessment of time)
50: Fixed Costs, Costs on the Small Claims Track, and Fast Track Costs
51: Hourly Rates
52: Disbursements and expenses
53: Counsel's Fees
54: Additional Liabilities
55: Value Added Tax
56: Interest Between Opposing Parties
57: Conduct and Misconduct and the Quantum of Costs
58: Legislative Fetters on the Recovery of Costs

Part 14: Particular persons
59: Litigants in Person and Lawyers Who Act in Their Own Cause
60: Children and Protected Persons
61: Public Bodies and the Crown
62: Costs Against Legally Aided Persons
63: Road Traffic Insurers and Liability for Costs
64: Costs Against the Courts Service

Part 15: Particular circumstances
65: Group Litigation, Derivative Claims and Representative Claims
66: Contracts and Trusts
67: Public Law and Judicial Review

Part 16: Materials
68: Tables and Figures

Dr Mark Friston
Barrister
Kings Chambers

Dr Friston is a heavyweight in all aspects of costs law and litigation funding. Described in the current edition of Chambers and Partners as having a“frightening intellect” and in the current edition of the Legal 500 as having an “unrivalled knowledge of all aspects of costs and costslitigation”, he tends to focus on appellate matters and high value matters. He has both a non-contentious and a contentious practice:

Non-contentious: Dr Friston is well known for giving business advice to firms of solicitors and insurers. He is heavily in demand for his drafting skills, and is particularly well known for his contracts for funding, bespoke conditional fee agreements, costs sharing agreements, deeds of rectification, etc. He keeps a close eye on the movers and shakers in the field of legal costs, and is able to give up-to-the-minute advice about how best to deal with potential changes in policy.
Contentious: In so far as contentious work is concerned, Dr Friston’s forte is group litigation and representative claims, costs of commercial disputes, solicitor and client work, and points of law. He has expertise in managing ‘broken retainers’ and disputes concerning VAT. He is developing an interest in litigation other than in the civil courts, such as litigation before a variety of tribunals and arbitral litigation.
Profile:

Dr Friston is author Civil Costs: Law and Practice,which is a comprehensive and erudite costs textbook. It has been described in this jurisdiction as “the Bible of the legal costs world” and “an exhaustive technical encyclopaedia of costs”, and has been described internationally as “a remarkable book”. One leading commentator has said that “those on the front line of costs disputes should have this work surgically attached to them”. Dr Friston is chairman of the Bar Council Conditional Fee Agreement Committee, and was the first practising barrister to become a Fellow of the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen (which is now known as the Association of Costs Lawyers). He is the only practising barrister ever to have sat as a council member of that organisation.