OUR TEAM

Caroline began her career in Costs over 11 years ago and currently prepares Bills of Costs, Costs Budgets and Precedent R’s. She also negotiates Costs settlements and attends CCMC Hearings. Prior to starting her career in Costs, Caroline attended college where she took A-level Psychology, Business Studies, English and Economics. In her spare time Caroline enjoys spending time with her family and friends, in particular spending time with her young daughters. Caroline also enjoys going to the gym, attending her local Zumba class and cooking.

Charlene joined the Paramount family in March 2022 and brought with her 20 years costing experience; over 15 years of which is in Complex Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence work (for both receiving and paying parties). Charlene has worked through, and helped clients during, times of significant change in the industry, from the implementation of fixed success fees to the revocation of them being recoverable inter partes; the 2013 LASPO reforms and the continually changing landscape of fixed costs and more. She is passionate about costs has a broad knowledge covering a variety of different claim types dealing with all aspects of the costs process from Costs Budgeting, Bill drafting and costs negotiations and seeing matters through to Assessment.

In her spare time she loves to hike the fells of the Lake District and doesn’t sit still for long so she’s always on the lookout for a new multi sport type challenge. She is also big foodie who enjoys cooking (and eating!).

Chloe has worked within the legal industry since 2017, having first started her journey as a legal assistant at a solicitor’s firm which offered a variety of services. Following her interests within the costs industry, she moved into a legal costs firm, whereby she started as a legal costs assistant. Chloe was given the opportunity to attend an in-house cost training program to train as a Court of Protection Costs Specialist and gradually worked towards becoming a Law Cost Draftsperson, within that sector.

Chloe joined Paramount in May 2023 and is currently undertaking the Cost Lawyer qualification.

in her spare time, she enjoy spending time with family and friends and taking her dog for long walks.

Christine Marsh is the Private Client Director and one of the founders of Paramount. She has nearly 25 years’ experience in legal costs and now specialises in Private Client Costs and Court of Protection matters in particular. Christine also delivers training to Clients and attends various Conferences, speaking about Court of Protection Costs, File Management and the Costs Assessment Process.

In her spare time, Christine enjoys watching various sports (mainly netball and swimming, although sadly no longer participating in them), cooking (usually with a glass of something in her hand), long walks with her family and crazy Hungarian Vizsla Luna and traipsing around the country to various swimming venues with her youngest daughter.

Danielle is a Costs Lawyer and has over 10 years’ experience working within the legal costs sector. Danielle specialises in Court of Protection Costs, of which she is very passionate about. Danielle prepares both detailed and short-form bills of costs for Court of Protection Applications, Deputyship general management work and also Statutory Wills and other ad hoc works.

Danielle can provide advice for pre and post assessment of costs and also training on costs recovery and file management.

She also has experience of dealing with both inter-partes costs and legal aid billing.

In her spare time Danielle enjoys spending time with her family and being a mum to her two children, she likes to read and she also loves a good Netflix series!

Dominic is a Costs Draftsman with 1 years’ experience dealing with litigation and Personal Injury Cases and has recently started dealing with Private Client matters at Paramount focusing on Court of Protection bills.

In his spare time, he enjoys going to the gym and travelling as much as he can.

Edward has over 2 years’ experience dealing with Court of Protection matters. Ed enjoys losing and finding golf balls each weekend, as well as watching football, rugby and horse racing. Ed also enjoys spending time with his family even though one of them is a City fan.

Emma has over six years’ experience in the costs industry and has a particular interest in high value Clinical Negligence and Costs Budgeting matters. In July 2018, Emma qualified as a Costs Lawyer.

In her spare time, Emma enjoys spending time with her friends and family. She also likes to keep fit and is a keen runner.

Georgia joined the Paramount team in June 2022 and has worked in legal costs since 2015, primarily specialising in Court of Protection Costs. She has built up a valuable skillset throughout her costs career and this has led to her having prepared some very high value and complex Court of Protection Bills of Costs and requests for reassessment. Georgia is experienced in drafting Bills of Costs for Deputyship Applications, Statutory Will applications and contested applications, welfare proceedings and ad hoc Bills of Costs. She has also had experience in providing client training to assist with maximising recovery and Legal Aid billing.

In her spare time, Georgia enjoys planning holidays, trying new restaurants, and becoming engrossed in the latest crime drama.

Gina Nixon is the Office Manager at Paramount and Head of the Processing Department. She has almost 15 years’ experience dealing with all aspects of administration for Legal Aid matters and more recently the Legal Aid Client and Cost Management System. Outside of work, Gina enjoys going to the gym, socialising and spending time with her now grown up family.

Hafeezah joined the Paramount team in March 2024. She has worked within the legal environment for almost 5 years. Hafeezah specialises in Court of Protection Costs and has experience with financial and property affairs for Deputyships, which she is very keen on. Hafeezah prepares both detailed and short-form Bills of Costs for assessments for various clients

In her spare time, Hafeezah likes to keep fit by going to the gym and taking long walks as well as spending time with my family and friends.

Helen joined the team in July 2022 and is a qualified solicitor. She has over 20 years of costs and litigation experience from both a paying and receiving party perspective.

Helen is experienced in handling a wide range of high value civil costs matters including clinical negligence, personal injury and commercial disputes.

She is an experienced drafter, negotiator and advocate and has attended detailed assessments and CCMCs all across the country.

In her spare time, Helen loves to travel and enjoys live music and comedy. She is always planning her next festival or concert trip. She enjoys quizzes and is the proud owner of a BBC “Pointless” trophy.

Julie is the Head of the Private Client department at Paramount Legal Costs, and a regulated Costs Lawyer. She has worked in the costs industry for over 24 years, and specialises in the recovery of costs in the Court of Protection. Her role includes managing the Private Client team, and training and mentoring new team members, as well as handling her own large and varied caseload. She prepares bills in all types of Court of Protection matters, deals with the assessment of bills by the Senior Courts Costs Office, and provides advice to clients on all aspects of Court of Protection costs.

Away from work, Julie enjoys travelling around the country with her family in their motorhome, going for walks, and baking.

As well as being one of the Directors of Paramount Legal Costs, Karen is also the Office Manager overseeing the marketing of the firm, human resources and Paramount’s compliance with data protection. Prior to joining Paramount in 2011, she worked in the hospitality sector for just over 10 years. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, has a terrible addiction to buying cook books and she definitely doesn’t go running!

Karl is a Costs Lawyer with over a decade of experience. He deals with a variety of complex costs matters including commercial disputes, personal injury, clinical negligence and private client matters.

Originally from the North East, Karl is a long suffering Sunderland fan who enjoys playing golf, keeping fit, baking, reading and spending time with his family and Cocker Spaniel (Indie).

Kirsty has over 10 years’ experience in costs, initially starting out preparing Claims, Bills and High Cost Case Plans in family legal aid cases, before moving onto drafting Bills in Court of Protection and litigation matters, including Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence.

In her spare time Kirsty plays in a brass band, enjoys attending gigs and keeping her young son and energetic cocker spaniel entertained!

Kris is a Costs Lawyer with 10 years’ experience in a wide range of areas of costs from inter partes to Court of Protection costs. Kris has experience in preparing detailed Bills of Costs, Costs Budgets, Points of Dispute and Replies and negotiating settlements. Kris is currently a member of the Association of Costs Lawyer council and works within the policy sub-committee which involves preparing responses to consultations that impact the world of costs. Kris is also CLSB accredited in order to provide CPD compliant training and heads up Paramount’s internal and external training provision.

In his spare time, Kris follows a wide range of sports, in particular football and Formula 1.

Martin Walsh is the Managing Director of Paramount Legal Costs. He has almost 25 years’ experience in legal costs, specialising in high value personal injury & clinical negligence claims, as well as various types of civil litigation. Although Martin’s main role now is the day-to-day running of a forward thinking company, focusing on business development, client care & mentoring team Paramount, he still continues to have an active caseload. In his spare time, Martin enjoys spending time with his family, walking the dog, travel, food (and the occasional glass of red wine!) and watching most sports, particularly cricket, rugby union and horse racing.

Melanie has in excess of 25 years’ experience in the costs industry having worked in all areas during her career. More recently she has been focusing on Clinical Negligence, Costs Budgeting and Court of Protection matters, many of these of a very high value and complex nature.

In her spare time, Melanie is a busy mum to her two teenagers and likes to find time to exercise and get out on to the Lakeland fells as much as possible.

Melissa specialises in Private Client Court of Protection bill drafting and management and joined the Paramount team in July 2023. Her expertise spans various types of bills, including General Management and Applications, Statutory Will and Trust Applications. Melissa’s approach is marked by attention to detail and a commitment to delivering accurate bills of costs tailored to clients’ needs.

Outside of her professional role, Melissa enjoys playing video games and expressing her creativity through the piano and violin. Committed to giving back, she also volunteers as a leader in Girlguiding, dedicating her time to mentoring and empowering young girls.

Nicola Roberts is a Senior Costs Draftsman with over 20 years’ costing experience, particularly in relation to all aspects of care, family and legal aid matters. She also has experience in preparing High Cost Case Plans.

She enjoys walking in the Lake District, cooking (and eating), reading, going to gigs and spending time with her family, friends and dogs.

Samantha is a Cost Lawyer with over 15 years’ experience working both in-house and for leading costs firms, having worked in all areas during her career. Samantha deals with any between the parties costs including clinical negligence, civil litigation, personal injury and commercial cases. Enjoying the variety of work and providing advice to Clients, she specialises in drafting Bills of Costs, Precedent H Costs Budgets, Points of Dispute and Replies.

In her spare time Samantha plays netball for Durham Dodgers and enjoys mountain biking, paddleboarding and hiking. Sam also enjoys holidays and going on adventures with her husband, two young daughters and Collie dog in their self-converted VW T5 Campervan.

Tom is a Costs Lawyer with over 20 years’ experience, and deals with any between the parties costs including clinical negligence, civil litigation, personal injury and commercial cases. Enjoying the variety of work and providing advice to Clients, he specialises in drafting Bills of Costs, Precedent H Costs Budgets, Points of Dispute and Replies, and also attending CCMCs. In his spare time, Tom has a variety of interests but most involve some form of sport or food, as well as spending time with his family.