The process for payment of legal costs comes after a matter has been heard and concluded in court. A Bills of Costs case is filed for Taxation hearings before the Taxing Master (a Registrar in chambers). When the opposing party wishes to dispute the items in a Bill of Costs, a Notice of Dispute will be filed.
Taxation is a process where the Court considers a Bill of Cost submitted to it by the claiming party (Applicant), and decides on the quantum of costs payable by the paying party (Respondent) to the Applicant. The costs referred to include professional fees, charges, disbursements (amounts paid up-front by a Law Firm), expenses and remuneration. The Respondent is usually the losing party in an action/application.
After the Taxation hearing, a Registrar's Certificate will be extracted showing the sum awarded or allowed by the Taxing Master as well as the amount of allocatur fees to be paid and any GST payable.
Meanwhile, in cases wherein a Lawyer and his client cannot agree on the costs to be paid by the client to the Lawyer for the work done, then the Lawyer and the client can agree to a taxation of the costs by the Court or obtain an Order of Court for the taxation of the bill.
A Bill of Costs form comprises of three sections:
Section 1 - Work done other than for Taxation;
Section 2 - Work done for Taxation; and
Section 3 - Disbursements