Costs Negotiator - Complex Injury
📍 Southampton | Full-time, 35 hours per week | Hybrid Working
We're looking for an experienced Costs Negotiator to join our supportive Costs team in Southampton, working closely with colleagues across the wider Complex Injury Division.
This is a great opportunity to develop your technical ability through a varied caseload involving costs arising from high-value and complex injury claims, including Employers' Liability (EL), Public Liability (PL) and Road Traffic Accident (RTA) matters. Your caseload will include a mixture of fixed recoverable costs and hourly-rate work, providing plenty of variety and scope to develop your experience.
Key Responsibilities
🔎You'll manage your own caseload, taking costs matters through to settlement or assessment, while working collaboratively with colleagues across the wider team. Key responsibilities will include:
- Reviewing, assessing and negotiating costs claims
- Preparing Points of Dispute and considering and responding to replies
- Progressing cases through provisional and detailed assessment
- Drafting costs budgets, Budget Discussion Reports and Precedent Ts
- Conducting costs budget negotiations
- Reviewing files, setting strategy and identifying key strengths and weaknesses
- Preparing and maintaining costs strategy reports throughout the life of a case
- Providing clear and accurate advice and updates to clients
- Negotiating positive and commercially effective outcomes for clients
- Managing your caseload effectively to meet deadlines and service-level agreements
- Drafting or opposing relevant applications and, where appropriate, supporting matters through detailed assessment
Skills & Expertise
👤We're looking for someone with previous costs negotiation experience who is comfortable managing their own caseload. You'll ideally have:
✅ Experience preparing Points of Dispute and considering replies
✅ Experience progressing matters towards provisional and detailed assessment
✅ Strong written and verbal communication skills
✅ Previous client liaison experience
✅ Confident telephone negotiation skills
✅ The ability to organise and prioritise a busy workload
✅ Good decision-making skills and the ability to use your own initiative
✅ A collaborative approach and the ability to work effectively as part of a team
A degree, LPC, ALCD or equivalent qualification would be advantageous, as would previous advocacy experience.
🌟 Why join us?
This role offers a real opportunity to continue building your career within costs, with:
🔹 High-value, complex work - develop your technical ability through costs arising from complex EL, PL and RTA injury claims.
🔹 A varied caseload - work across a mixture of fixed recoverable costs and hourly-rate matters.
🔹 Wider team exposure - collaborate with colleagues across the Costs team and wider Complex Injury Division.
🔹 Technical development - continue building your knowledge and confidence when dealing with higher-value costs matters.
🔹 Client exposure - strengthen your experience of client liaison, providing clear advice and maintaining positive client relationships.
🔹 A supportive team - work alongside experienced colleagues in an environment where knowledge and expertise can be shared.
At Keoghs, our values are at the heart of how we work: we are connected, we are dynamic, we are innovative and we succeed together.
👣 Ready for your next step in Costs?
If you're an experienced Costs Negotiator looking to broaden your exposure to complex, high-value work while developing your technical expertise within a supportive team, we'd love to hear from you.
