Partner, Irwin Mitchell, Sheffield
Steven is a Partner at Irwin Mitchell and the National Head of the Costs Department, which was established in 1999 and has grown to become the largest known internal team in the country, with over 100 people. He specialises in all areas of costs law, with a particular focus on high-value and complex claims. A career costs practitioner, he works closely with clients to resolve costs disputes.
He has a longstanding interest in the funding of civil litigation, including Conditional Fee Agreements, both collective and individual actions, and After the Event insurance. He is also involved with third party funders and developments in this area.
He is the co-author of Conditional Fee Agreements (3rd Edition), published by the Law Society.
He was involved in a Civil Justice Council sub-group which examined the effects of, and early signals from, the 2013 costs and procedural reforms. The subsequent report, The Scope of Qualified One Way Costs Shifting, has now been published.
He is a regular lecturer in the area of legal costs and the funding of civil litigation, and is frequently asked to contribute to the press on legal costs issues.
He has also sat on various sub-groups and working parties within the Association of Costs Lawyers, including The Introduction of New Form Bills of Costs and The Proposed Expansion of Fixed Recoverable Costs in Civil Litigation.