New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

MOTOR ACCIDENTS COMPENSATION REGULATION 2005 - REG 9

9 Fixing of maximum costs recoverable by legal practitioners

(1) The maximum costs for:

(a) legal services provided by a legal practitioner to a claimant or to an insurer in any motor accidents matter, and

(b) matters that are not legal services but are related to proceedings in a motor accidents matter,

are the costs set out in Schedule 1, except as otherwise provided by this Part.

Note: Division 2 of Part 11 of the Legal Profession Act 1987 requires barristers and solicitors, before providing any legal services to a client, to provide the client with a written disclosure of the basis of the costs (or an estimate of the likely costs) of legal services concerned.

(2) If there is a change in the legal practitioner retained by a claimant or insurer in a motor accidents matter, the relevant costs are to be apportioned between the legal practitioners concerned.

(3) If there is a dispute as to such an apportionment, either legal practitioner concerned (or the client claimant or insurer concerned) may refer the dispute to a claims assessor for determination (unless the dispute arose in a matter in which, under section 92 of the Act, the claim is exempt from assessment).

(4) A legal practitioner has the same right of appeal against a determination made under subclause (3) as the practitioner would have under section 208L or 208M of the Legal Profession Act 1987 if the determination were a determination made by a costs assessor under Part 11 of that Act in relation to a bill of costs.