Association_of_Costs_Lawyers
The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) is a professional association that represents costs lawyers in England and Wales. It was originally established in 1977 as the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen,[1][2] but the name was changed in January 2011.
The ACL became an "authorised body" or legal regulator, specifically for law costs draftsmen, on 1 January 2007.[3] As a consequence of Schedule 4 of the Legal Services Act 2007, the ACL was listed as one of a number of authorised bodies regulating the carrying out of reserved legal activities. Specifically, costs lawyers can conduct costs litigation, and can administer oaths, with rights of audience in all courts in England and Wales.[4] Under Practice Direction 46.5 of the Civil Procedure Rules, a Fellow of the ACL (or a law costs draftsman with membership of The Academy of Experts or the Expert Witness Institute) can be retained by a litigant in person as experts on costs.[5]