Costs, taxation, and lawyers liens

Last revised September 12, 2022

If you are having trouble finding the term "costs", try looking up "lawyers’ fees" or "taxation of accounts."

Selected Books and Articles

• Practice before the registrar (KN352 P72 C65) – discusses practice and procedure, includes forms and precedents and articles. Information on costs is indexed under the heading "Assessments".
• Annotated British Columbia legal profession act (KL82 A111 T87) – includes legislation, case law and commentary relating to costs issues.
• Annual review of law & practice (KA1 A56) – reviews lawyers' remuneration cases in B.C. under the "Practice"  or "Civil Procedure" headings. Use in conjunction with British Columbia Annual Practice, Rules 37 & 57.
• Barristers & solicitors in practice (KL85 B377) – Canadian loose-leaf reference source modeled on Cordery on Solicitors. Information on fees are indexed under "Remuneration".
• British Columbia annual practice (KN352 A115 B75) – Annotations for cases that state or apply costs principles in a new way are added each year.
• Civil procedure encyclopedia (KN350 S73 2003) – Volume 4, Chapters 71 to 73 deal with costs. All aspects of disbursements, fees and taxation are discussed and footnoted with cites to cases across Canada. Use "Detailed Table of Contents".
• The conduct of civil litigation in British Columbia (KN352 F73 A2) – Volume 2, Chapter 38 deals with costs.  It covers assessment of costs, discretionary costs and orders as well as a number of other topics.  Includes a table of statutory provisions relating to costs.
• Cordery on solicitors (KL51 C67) – Ninth edition of a classic UK text. Information on costs is indexed under "assessment of costs", "bill of costs", "costs", "detailed assessment of costs", "direct costs", "fees", "fixed costs", "inter partes costs", "liens", "payment of costs" and "remuneration".
• Law & practice relating to solicitors' liens & charging orders (KN221.22 A85 1905) – Practical information on lawyers' liens and charging orders still relevant in B.C. today.
• The law of costs (KN397 O746) – Ontario-oriented classic loose-leaf text by Mark M. Orkin.
• A treatise upon the law affecting the solicitors of the supreme court (KL87 P634 1897) – Old UK text that covers remuneration, liens, charging orders, taxation of bills of costs and recovery of costs.
• "Preparing a Bill of Costs" from the CLE course materials: Civil Litigation Basics for Legal Support Staff - 2009 Update (KL352 C59 2009) – A paper that discusses party and party costs, bill of costs, tariff items, disbursements, taxes, certificate of costs and interest on costs.

Related Legislation

• Supreme Court Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 443
• Rule 14-1 Costs of the Supreme Court Civil Rules 
• Appendix B Party and Party Costs of the Supreme Court Court Rules