A compliant costs agreement, tailored to the matter, in under 5 minutes.
I draft costs agreements and costs disclosures under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW/VIC/WA) and the equivalent state schemes — matter-specific, with the statutory disclosure language in the right places.
I draft costs agreements and costs disclosure statements that comply with the Legal Profession Uniform Law (applied in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia) and the parallel state schemes in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory. I tailor scope, estimate ranges, billing cycle, and disbursement assumptions to the matter — and place the required statutory disclosures where the rules require them. Built for AU practice; not a generic template.
What changes
You pull the firm's costs agreement template, replace ten fields by hand, tweak the scope paragraph, check the disclosure thresholds under Section 174 of the Uniform Law, add the dispute resolution notice, and send it for partner sign-off. 40 minutes for a straightforward commercial matter; longer if scope is unusual.
I take a 60-second brief on the matter — client, scope, estimated fee range, billing cycle, disbursement profile — and produce a compliant costs agreement with the correct statutory disclosures, ready for partner review, in under 5 minutes.
From upload to output
Brief the matter
Tell me the client, the scope of work, the estimated fee range, the billing cycle, and any known disbursement profile. I use your firm's costs agreement as the starting template.
I draft against the Uniform Law
I draft the scope, fee basis, estimate, billing cycle, and disbursement clauses — and place the statutory disclosures required under Section 174 (Uniform Law jurisdictions) or the equivalent state rule.
Tailor to matter risk
If the estimate crosses the Uniform Law disclosure thresholds, I add the written estimate and range requirements. If the client is a sophisticated client, I apply the exception clauses.
Export and send
Export to Word, hand to the partner for review, then send via your PMS or e-signature integration. Covering letter drafts alongside.
What you can do with Quillio cost agreement drafting
- Draft Uniform Law compliant costs agreements (NSW, VIC, WA)
- Draft costs agreements under QLD, SA, TAS, ACT, NT state schemes
- Produce the costs disclosure statement required at engagement
- Handle sophisticated client exceptions correctly
- Apply the right thresholds for written estimate requirements
- Draft conditional costs agreements for personal injury matters
- Produce costs agreement variations when scope changes
- Draft the accompanying client care letter and terms of engagement
A real example
A new commercial dispute matter in Sydney. Client is a mid-sized business. Estimated fees $45,000-$80,000 over 6 months; likely counsel briefed; modest disbursements.
Tell me: NSW, commercial litigation, client is a Pty Ltd, estimate $45K-$80K, monthly billing, counsel likely. Firm template on file.
A compliant Uniform Law costs agreement with: scope paragraph tailored to the dispute, fee basis at hourly rates with the written estimate and range (Section 174 compliant), monthly billing clause, counsel disbursement disclosure, dispute resolution and costs assessment rights notice, and the costs disclosure statement. Covering client care letter alongside. Partner can review and sign off in 10 minutes.
Documents, jurisdictions, and practice areas
Document types
- Costs agreements
- Costs disclosure statements
- Conditional costs agreements
- Costs agreement variations
- Client care letters
- Terms of engagement
- Scope letters
- Retainer confirmations
Jurisdictions
- NSW
- VIC
- WA
- QLD
- SA
- TAS
- ACT
- NT
Practice areas
- Commercial
- Family
- Litigation
- Property
- Criminal
- Employment
- Wills & Estates
- Personal Injury
Cost Agreement Drafting FAQs
Does this comply with the Legal Profession Uniform Law?
Yes — for NSW, Victoria and Western Australia (the Uniform Law jurisdictions). I apply Section 174 estimate and disclosure requirements, the Section 180 sophisticated client exceptions, and the dispute resolution notice requirements. For QLD, SA, TAS, ACT and NT, I apply the equivalent state provisions.
Does it handle conditional costs agreements?
Yes. For personal injury and similar matters, I draft conditional costs agreements (including uplift where permitted) with the cooling-off period and client acknowledgment language the state legislation requires.
What about the sophisticated client exception?
I apply it correctly. For sophisticated clients (as defined in Section 170 of the Uniform Law), I include the shortened disclosure form; for others, the full Section 174 disclosure applies. I ask whether the client qualifies rather than assuming.
Can it produce variations when scope changes?
Yes. Give me the original agreement and the change in scope, and I draft a variation consistent with Section 174(3) — either a new estimate notice or a revised costs agreement, depending on the size of the change.
Does it draft under NZ's costs rules too?
I draft against NZ's Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 and the Rules of Conduct and Client Care. The structure and disclosure pattern differs from the Uniform Law, and I apply the NZ framework when the jurisdiction is set to NZ.
Who is responsible for compliance?
You are — I produce a drafting aid, not legal advice. The partner signing off on the costs agreement is responsible for compliance with the Uniform Law or state equivalent. My job is to save you the drafting time and reduce the chance of missing a statutory disclosure; the judgment call stays with you.
Try it on a current document.
The fastest way to test this is to run it against your next new-matter costs agreement and compare the output to what a junior would draft. Free trial, no sales call.
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