Richard Waters

Career

Richard Waters is a Senior Associate and Costs Lawyer in the Furley Page Dispute Resolution team.

Richard initially qualified as an Associate of the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen in 2009 at an established independent firm of costs lawyers, and following upgrade to Fellowship, acquired Costs Lawyer status in October 2011.

Richard joined Furley Page in 2016 and was promoted to Associate in 2019. Richard heads our Costs team and provides services to Furley Page’s Dispute Resolution, Personal Injury and Vulnerable Client teams. Richard also receives instructions from external firms and ‘litigants in person’ within a wide range of claims.

Focusing on providing considered and practical advice, Richard identifies costs protection as central to his advice in this ever evolving area. Richard is therefore able to maximise costs recovery with well-placed and strategic settlement offers.

Richard is regulated by the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB) which grants him the right to conduct the exercise of a right of audience, the conduct of litigation and the administration of oaths.

Notable Cases

• Richard was involved in the recovery of costs brought on behalf of the family/estate of Mr Huxley who died as a result of the Croydon Tram Derailment in 2016. Of the 69 passengers there were seven fatalities and 62 injured, 19 of whom sustained serious injuries. Richard was thereafter involved in the costs management of the subsequent eight-week Inquest for the family.
• Richard acted for a Defendant in a costs claim in relation to a commercial dispute whereby the Claimant accepted the Defendant’s Part 36 offer nearly a year after expiry of the relevant period. Accordingly, both parties sought to recover their costs by way of a ‘set-off’ involving total costs in excess of £1m with the Claimant claiming the greater of the two claims. Although a costs management order was not made in the claim, both had parties served costs budgets. Due to inaccuracies identified with the Claimant’s costs budget and a statement of costs as to the actual level of incurred costs up to a certain date, settlement of costs was achieved by way of set-off in the sum of £125,000 in the Defendant’s favour.
• Richard acted for a client in a Solicitor Act 1974 Assessment against the client’s former solicitors, whereby on appeal the Court found that the Costs Master was entitled to find ‘special circumstances’ for a costs assessment more than three years after delivery of a bill – Rippon Patel & French LLP V Mowlam [2020] EWHC 1079 (QB).
• Richard acted for a Defendant company against a vexatious litigant, and a former employee of the company, who discontinued one of several claims made before allocation. The Claimant had sought allocation to the Small Claims Track due to its value and the Defendant to the Fast Track on the basis of complexity. A Default Costs Certificate was obtained against the Claimant, to which the Claimant applied to set-aside. Richard represented the Defendant at the hearing of the application whereby the Court dismissed the Claimant’s application with the Claimant being ordered to pay the full amount of the bill plus over £6,000 in costs.