Sydney Ward, Trainee Costs Lawyer, Bolt Burdon Kemp

Sydney discusses her path her career in costs law

My day-to-day work varies from drafting bills of costs, N260s, points of reply, preparing advice on costs recovery and negotiating with defendants. Since joining BBK, whenever I have expressed an interest in trying a new task I have been encouraged to do so and given support when needed.

After completing the LLB and LPC I was looking for paralegal jobs at firms that specialised in high-value, complex work and supported its employees to progress their careers from early on. I joined BBK in March 2022 as a Paralegal in the Legal Costs team having only briefly studied Costs Law on the LPC.

I knew I enjoyed working in Costs Law and wanted to gain a better understanding in order to progress my career whilst continuing to work full-time so that I could put the knowledge I am learning into practice daily.

I would advise anyone studying the ACLT Course to take advantage of the help which your tutors can provide. For example, I always complete a draft assignment a few weeks before the assignment deadline so there is sufficient time to ask any outstanding questions from my tutor.

Added September 2023