Margaret McDonald
- Call:
- 2000 Inner Temple (Former solicitor Admitted 1987)
- Education:
- LLB(Hons) University of Leeds
- Practice:
- Head of the Costs Team and a member of the Civil Team, Miss McDonald's practice covers:
- Costs
- Personal Injury
- Experience:
Personal Injury
Margaret is very experienced in the area of Personal Injury law. She receives instructions from both national and regional specialist firms. Margaret has recently settled matters in a substantial group action claim. She was a member of the Law Society Panel of Personal Injury Specialists during her time as a solicitor. Her specialist costs knowledge is particularly relevant in summary assessment deliberations post trial and is valued by instructing solicitors throughout her practice.
Costs
Margaret has extensive costs experience from her time as a solicitor. She has developed her practice as a specialist costs counsel undertaking a full range of costs hearings, including appeals, technical arguments, detailed assessments and summary assessments. Her written costs practice includes advice and drafting skeleton arguments. She has a particular interest in conditional fee agreements, collective conditional fee agreements, mis-certification, premature issue, costs estimates and costs capping. Recent cases have involved:
- A number of linked test cases that have been referred to the Regional Costs Judge in relation to Exaggerated Costs, Mis-Certification of Costs Bills and the Status of Informal Costs Schedules.
- The key case of Smith v. Patel on mis-certification
- An Appeal in the Supreme Court Costs Office on post "Garrett" CFAR 2000 Enforceability Issues
- Successfully challenges to new style Conditional Fee Agreements entered into post November 2005
- Test case challenges to Collective Conditional Fee Agreements
- SCCO detailed assessment hearings for Bills up to a value of £11,000,000.00
- An SCCO "Costs Estimates" case where the Bill was £5,000,000.00 more than the costs estimate.
In addition she is the Professional Programme Director for the Bar Vocational Course at Manchester Metropolitan University.
- Relevant Memberships & Qualifications
-
- Trainer of Advocacy Trainer [ATC]
- Member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy [NITA],
- NITA approved Advocacy Trainer,
- Bar Council External Examiner