Third Party Costs Assessments - Lessons Learned from Kenig

Introduction

Before the Court of Appeal’s decision in Kenig Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP, it was the accepted understanding that if an executor has accepted and approved the costs of the solicitor to be paid out of the estate’s funds then the court would be unlikely to look beyond that approval at assessment.

This approach meant in practice that beneficiaries would be extremely limited when it came to challenging invoices raised by solicitors and approved by executors.

However, in the decision in Kenig, the court found that the Solicitors Act 1974 had included the rights of clients and third parties under different sections specifically and such a distinction must naturally lead to the conclusion that there must be a distinction in how the two assessments are carried out.

This ultimately led to the court finding that there are some costs which a beneficiary may not have to bear out of the estate and, as such, the solicitor’s bill would be reduced at assessment.

Since the decision there has been a significant increase in the number of Solicitors Act assessments that are being sought by third parties.

Solicitors Act assessments can be protracted and expensive affairs, however, there are some key steps that solicitors can take to protect themselves against such challenges which this webinar will explore.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• What a statutory invoice is and the differences to an interim payment request
• Why statutory invoices are important to Solicitors Act assessments
• The process of a Solicitors Act assessment as well as the basis for assessment
• The circumstances where third parties can apply to assess a solicitor’s statute invoice
• Your obligations under a Solicitors Act assessment and to third parties
• The best ways to avoid Solicitors Act assessments brought by third parties

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 27th October 2025

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