Newsletter – February 2026

From the Chair

Our first newsletter of 2026 lands after a busy start to the practising year with a new Mark of Regulation and a thriving Women in Costs Conference.

Have you seen the new Mark of Regulation and communication toolkit?

On 28 January 2026, we launched the new Mark of Regulation and communication toolkit. You will find this by logging into our website, which ensures only Costs Lawyers with a current practising certificate can download these exclusive assets.

This new and exclusive tool is intended to help the entire regulated costs sector stand out from the unregulated costs advisors, underlining the importance of being regulated and the protections that brings, along with emphasising the reserved legal activities that Costs Lawyers can engage in. The awareness across the other branches of the legal profession remains too low, and is even lower with consumers and litigants in person. As your regulator, we are committed to communicating the value of regulation to you as well as your clients. But we cannot achieve this without your help, we need you to help us help you by now using these shared digital assets from the Mark of Regulation and communication toolkit.

I headed over to Manchester on 23 January 2026 to join the Women in Costs Conference. You can read Neil Rose’s write up of the conference here. The energy at the event was contagious, with a tremendous masterclass on the use of LinkedIn from Helen Burness. Women in Costs demonstrates the power and impact of holding each other up.

Since then I joined the Chair of the CLSB at a Legal Services Board (LSB) meeting bringing together the Chairs and CEOs of the frontline legal regulators in England and Wales. One of the agenda items was on diversity and I took the opportunity to share my experience at the conference and the clear message that while there’s been progress, there remains much still to do to improve diversity and inclusion across the legal sector.

On Thursday 29 January, the CLSB held its first Board meeting of 2026 welcoming two new Board Members, Helen Moulinos and Leigh White. You can read more about our Board members in this edition’s Spotlight article, and also on our website here. The Board meets at least four times a year and we publish our minutes on our website for transparency. We ended 2025 by completing all the priorities in our Business Plan which you will be able to read more about later this year when we publish our new Annual Report.

As we enter the new practising year, we do so with more Costs Lawyers than in the CLSB’s history, a clear message that your profession’s specialist skills and experience are in demand.

Paul Mosson

CEO

Regulatory News

Planning your CPD for 2026

If you haven’t done so already, you should now identify your training needs and set CPD objectives for the new practising year, in line with the CPD Rules. You should consider any training needs arising from your evaluation of last year’s CPD, any likely changes in your role or responsibilities and any emerging issues that might warrant new knowledge or skills. You must keep a written record of these using the CLSB template for planning and recording your CPD, available on our CPD webpage which is now mandatory.

The webpage also contains a range of other resources, including the CPD Rules, a Guidance Note, the Ongoing Competency Framework, a worked example of the CPD template, FAQs and more. We recommend that you keep evidence of all CPD activities you undertake together in one place in case of future audit. Your 2026 CPD records are subject to audit until the end of 2028. If you leave your current organisation before then, make sure you take evidence with you. Our Guidance Note provides more details on appropriate evidence, including for activities that do not provide a certificate of attendance or similar.

New supervision frameworks

To ensure standards are maintained, the CLSB undertakes a range of supervision activities, including an annual CPD audit, and complaints procedure audit. This involves monitoring conduct in areas that we have identified as posing a high risk of non-compliance, or a high risk of poor consumer outcomes in the event of non-compliance. This year we shall be introducing two new supervision frameworks: client care letters and dealing with consumers.

You should ensure that your client care letters and approach to dealing with consumers are in line with our Guidance Notes, available in the Costs Lawyer Handbook. More information about our approach to supervision is available on our website.

Reinforcing the message about Costs Lawyers and rights of audience

On the 14 January, the Costs Lawyer Standards Board (CLSB) wrote to the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) and Costs Judges to share the Register of Costs Lawyers, and the implications of granting rights of audience to anyone who is unregulated.

The Register of Costs Lawyers provides an up to date list of individuals authorised and regulated by the CLSB to exercise a right of audience and conduct litigation. We reinforced that granting rights of audience to costs advisers other than those who hold a current Costs Lawyer practising certificate and appear on the Register may mean clients have no recourse if things go wrong.

Too often, the CLSB is approached by complainants who have engaged the services of an unregulated costs advisor and are horrified to learn that they have no recourse when things have gone wrong. We have no jurisdiction to investigate the matter which means that the unregulated costs advisor also never gets the opportunity to put their case forward. This is why we continue to emphasise the importance of using regulated Costs Lawyers, and welcome unregulated costs advisors into the regulated community.

Costs Lawyer Profession in 2025: Report now available

Each year we collate and analyse the data you provide to us in your regulatory return, which forms part of the practising certificate application form. A summary of the most recent data is now available in a report entitled The Costs Lawyer profession in 2025.

The report looks at aspects of Costs Lawyers’ practice such as where they work and the value of their insurance cover, as well as aspects of Costs Lawyers’ client base such as where instructions come from and client characteristics.

Legal Services Board (LSB) consultation on Encouraging a diverse legal profession

On Thursday 12 February, the CLSB hosted a joint online event with the LSB to promote engagement with the LSB’s consultation.

During the event, Gavin Doyle (LSB) addressed questions directly from the profession. We offered to host this event as we are keen to encourage Costs Lawyers to engage with this and help shape regulatory objectives for the coming years. You have until 14.00 on 2 March to submit a response, and you can read more about this on the LSB’s website.

Technology and AI in Costs Law webinar

In the afternoon of 29 January, in collaboration with the Association of Costs Lawyers, we held an online event to discuss technology and AI in Costs Law, attracting over 100 participants.

Chaired by Lori Frecker, Director of Policy at the CLSB, we heard from Victoria Morrison-Hughes about the journey developing The Legal Lexi, and Tom Whittaker about AI in litigation, the growing case law, and changing workflows. Then Simon Murray gave an interactive and practical demonstration of using different AI tools which was followed by an open discussion with questions from the audience.

Take part in our research into Costs Lawyers career pathways

The CLSB is looking for Costs Lawyers in the early stages of their career to take part in our research into Costs Lawyers’ career pathways.

We’re looking to include a broad range of career experiences and perspectives in the research, from senior Costs Lawyers to those at the early stages of their careers, as well as to showcase the diversity of the profession in case studies.

Whilst we have had a great response from the profession so far, we are now actively seeking additional participants who have qualified recently and/or are in the early stages of their career.

If you would be willing to participate, please complete the short pre participation survey below. The aim of this survey is to ensure the research reflects a wide range of perspectives and experiences. CRAC will select a pool of interviewees from among those who volunteer. Please note that completing the survey does not guarantee selection for an interview.

Screening Questionnaire

All interviews will be anonymised, and reporting will be done in such a way that your responses cannot be traced back to you.

Spotlight on… Leigh White and Helen Moulinos, Non-executive directors of the CLSB

In this newsletter, Leigh White and Helen Moulinos tell us why they joined the CLSB Board.

“Practical visibility matters, especially for early career colleagues and those from under represented groups, and I’m keen we keep amplifying those voices.” Leigh White

“This role sits at the intersection of something I care deeply about: public trust in professional standards through effective regulation.” Helen Moulinos

Read More

Up and Coming…

Expect more from us shortly on:

  • Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2026
  • New supervision framework for Costs Lawyers who deal with consumers
  • Additional guidance on evidencing Qualifying Experience
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