Costs drafting and negotiation for claimant solicitor firms.
Costs, done right. We are law costs draftsmen for UK claimant firms, drafting and negotiating standard-basis (non-FRC) costs — bills, e-Bills, Points of Dispute, Replies and negotiation to settlement. Your fee-earners stay on the claim; we maximise recovery and reduce write-offs.
Know the fee
before we start.
Send one live Housing Disrepair, MoD NIHL or clinical negligence matter. We quote a fixed fee before any work begins — no hourly billing, no surprises.
- 1 Send the papers
- 2 We quote a fixed fee
- 3 You approve, we draft
Three specialist costs services.
Total command of the detail.
Housing Disrepair Costs
Precedent S, PoDs/Replies and settlement-led negotiation. Damp & mould, access & vulnerability, surveyor cycles and ADR conduct — built to survive detailed assessment.
Explore HDR →02 / NIHLMoD NIHL Costs
Standard-basis costs support for military hearing-loss claims. Service-records disclosure, audiology/occ-hygiene experts and matrix alignment on damages with full costs recovery.
Explore NIHL →03 / CLIN-NEGClinical Negligence
Outsource clinical negligence costs drafting and budgeting. Precedent H assumptions that survive the CCMC and bills that protect entitlement at every phase.
Explore Clin-Neg →Upload, track and settle —
all in one place.
Instruct us and follow every matter from your own secure dashboard. Send papers, watch the bill, PoDs and offers move, and see costs land — without chasing an inbox.
Upload your file
Drop papers, schedules and deadlines into a secure, encrypted workspace — no email size limits.
Track live progress
Watch the bill, Points of Dispute and Part 36 offers update in real time, file by file.
Settle & recover
Download settlement wording and DA-ready papers the moment costs are agreed.
Drafting-only support, built for recovery — not advocacy.
No lay clients, no advocacy. We prepare DA-ready work product and take costs negotiation through to settlement so your fee-earners keep billing the claim.
- 01Bills & e-Bills (Precedent S)
Clean phase coding and persuasive narratives that move numbers.
- 02Points of Dispute & Replies
Target the usual cuts; protect entitlement and proportionality.
- 03Precedent H / R / T budgeting
Assumptions that survive scrutiny at the CCMC.
- 04N260s & costs-only (CPR 46.14)
Interim applications and Part 8 proceedings, DA-ready.
- 05Negotiation to settlement
Staged offers and settlement wording that lands.
What does a costs draftsman do?
A costs draftsman (also called a law costs draftsman or costs draftsperson; the older spelling is costs draughtsman) prepares the documents that recover legal costs and negotiates them to settlement: the bill of costs, including Precedent S electronic bills, costs budgets, N260 statements of costs and Replies to Points of Dispute. The work is done for the instructing solicitor, who keeps conduct of the matter, and it stops short of advocacy. We are specialist costs draftsmen in three areas: housing disrepair, MoD NIHL and clinical negligence costs.
From instruction to settlement.
Send one live file
A single HDR, MoD NIHL or clinical negligence matter. We review the papers and quote a fixed fee before any work starts.
We draft the bill / e-Bill
Phase-coded Precedent S with a persuasive narrative. First drafts are normally returned within five working days of complete papers.
PoDs, Replies & offers
We answer the usual cuts, protect entitlement and put staged Part 36 offers on the table.
Negotiate to settlement
Settlement wording that lands — or DA-ready papers if the paying party won't move.
Our law costs draftsmen, directly involved.
20+ years' combined legal-costs experience at leadership level of claimant costs work, from our base in Greater Manchester. Every file is handled by a named practitioner, and the technical guidance on this site is written by the same people who draft the bills. Read how our work differs from a Costs Lawyer's, or meet our costs draftsmen.
Diellza Nika
Law Costs Draftsperson & Managing Director15+ years in legal costsDiellza is a law costs draftsperson who leads DMD Costs and remains directly involved in technical costs work, including Bills of Costs, budgeting, detailed assessment and costs recovery.
Read profile →Mentor Nika
Law Costs Draftsman, Head of Housing Disrepair Costs6+ years in claimant legal costsMentor is a law costs draftsman specialising in claimant Housing Disrepair and MoD NIHL costs, including Bills of Costs, Replies, Part 8 proceedings and negotiation.
Read profile →Send one live file. Get a fixed fee before we start.
One live Housing Disrepair, MoD NIHL or clinical negligence file. We quote a fixed fee up front, draft the bill and run the negotiation to settlement. B2B only — no lay clients.
New & recent publications
Housing Disrepair Costs in 2026: Are HDR Claims Still Standard Basis?
A practical guide for claimant solicitors on standard-basis recovery, fixed costs, N252, Precedent S and CPR 46.14 costs-only proceedings.
Read →MoD NIHLMoD NIHL Costs After Matrix Settlement: why the matrix doesn't cap your costs
Why a damages-matrix settlement doesn't fix recoverable costs — and how to draft, evidence and negotiate the bill to settlement.
Read →Guideline ratesSCCO Guideline Hourly Rates 2026: what claimant firms need to know
The 2026 rates for solicitors, and how claimant firms justify rates, grades and proportionality when recovery is challenged on assessment.
Read →