Our client came to us in August 2025 after being charged $236,321.92 by their former lawyer. They had already paid the full amount, but were concerned the bill was far too high.
Instead of starting with negotiations, we moved straight to formal action and filed a costs assessment in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Costs Division to have the legal fees independently reviewed.
While the assessment process was underway, we requested extra time to prepare a detailed notice of objections and continued negotiating with the former lawyer at the same time.
Once most of our objections had been prepared, the former lawyer made their first settlement offer of $15,000. We rejected this offer. Two months later, they increased their offer to $25,000, but our client was still not satisfied.
We then made a counteroffer of $40,000, plus our costs. Since our client had already paid the full $236,321.92, this meant they would receive a $40,000 refund.
The former lawyer accepted our offer.
As the costs assessment case was still open, we notified the Costs Assessor to formally close the proceedings.
This was a fantastic result for our client, securing a significant refund and bringing the matter to a close.