Dale is a Costs Lawyer and Legal Project Practitioner, specialising in litigation funding, costs management and costs assessment proceedings.
He focuses on commercial litigation, public law and clinical negligence for claimants and defendants, with experience of arbitration and family proceedings. He has a broad practice arising from insolvency litigation, shareholder disputes, civil fraud, inheritance act claims, commercial and contract claims, statutory appeals, judicial reviews and claims involving brain injuries, birth injuries, fatal accidents and GP negligence.
In terms of litigation funding, Dale advises on funding options and this includes liaising with clients and funders, preparing retainers, scoping and planning work, estimating costs and monitoring legal spend.
He advises on costs law and practice throughout litigation and frequently makes recommendations on the use of settlement offers, particularly via CPR 36. He advises on and settles costs submissions relating to interim applications and following trials and appeals, and has extensive experience of costs management. This includes preparing and responding to costs budgets, attending costs management conferences, monitoring legal spend and directing lawyers through the budget variation process.
He regularly prepares and responds to costs schedules for security for costs applications, for negotiation during/following litigation and arbitration and for payments on account of costs.
For detailed assessment proceedings, Dale prepares bills of costs and assists and guides legal teams through all stages of the costs assessment process, including the preparation of points of dispute/points of reply, negotiating costs, advising and attending detailed assessment hearings.
In 2021, he was appointed to the Association of Costs Lawyers’ working party on the Civil Justice Council’s consultation on revising the guideline hourly rates. This followed his appointment in 2017 to the working party charged with responding to Lord Justice Jackson’s consultation on fixed recoverable costs.
