In January of this, their 30th Anniversary, year the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen was granted authorised body status for the purposes of Sections 27 and 28 of the Courts and Legal Services Act and will now be able to grant Fellow members the right to conduct litigation and rights of audience. Previously, costs draftsmen had appeared before the court as deemed employees of their solicitor clients. The Legal Services Bill is to be amended to bring costs draftsmen into line with other legal professionals thus setting the seal on the Association’s “coming of age”. The Association’s recently appointed Chairman, Wendy Popplewell, comments that, “It is expected that the granting of authorised body status will encourage more draftsmen to become members and benefit from the structure and support of the ALCD” whilst the Senior Costs Judge, Master Peter Hurst, has said that the grant of rights will, “Bring about a cadre of costs professionals to whom members of the public will be able to go direct. This improvement in access to justice is very welcome”. Further evidence of the Association’s growing influence can be seen in their membership of the Costs Practitioners Group which is headed by the Senior Costs Judge, their detailed and well received input on the Legal Aid reforms consultation and the membership of one of its Council members on the committee of the Legal Aid Practioner’s Group (LAPG). Commenting on the recent developments, His Honour Michael Cook, author of Cook on Costs, general editor of Butterworths Costs Service and a past Honorary President of the Association, says, “I am delighted that the Association’s members are now being accorded the recognition and respect that they deserve. Their work now involves so much more than costs drafting alone, resulting in them having expertise in all aspects of legal costs which they are now able to make available to the profession and the general public in their own right. In the ever changing and complex field of legal costs their professional skills have never been more needed.”.