Katarzyna

Katarzyna Wronowska has worked for national firm Cost Law Services since 2019. She is in her first year of the ACLT’s Costs Lawyer Professional Qualification and hopes to be fully qualified by 2026 and eventually pursue her ambition of becoming a judge.

I moved to the UK from Poland when I was 19 so I could study criminology and psychology at Middlesex University. Unfortunately, events outside of my control meant I had to leave the course after one year but my passion for all things law did not diminish, it simply had to be put on hold for a while. A few years later I gave birth to my twin girls, which was quite a shock as twins did not run in either my family or their father’s.

When the girls were eight months old, I was made redundant from my admin position and moved out of London to settle in Kent. After a few years, I went into retail, but I knew it wasn’t something I could sustain for a long time due, predominantly, to the unsocial hours and my need for a new, mentally stimulating challenge. I’ve had a few roles over the years including admin and office management but when the position of junior law costs draftsman became available at Cost Law Services (CLS), I felt my attention to detail and experience working under pressure could place me in good stead. Although I didn’t have any previous experience in law, I was delighted to be offered the role.

I love my job and feel I have finally found a career that keeps me mentally occupied and challenged. I am quite ambitious so being able to study while working full-time was one of the reasons this course appealed to me. Of course, it is not easy juggling full-time work and studying, alongside being a single mum to three children, but the support ACLT provides makes it manageable.

CLS offered to partially fund the course but Covid hit and I was planning my third child and felt unable to juggle a newborn and dedicate so much time to studying, with such a turbulent time on the horizon. Once I returned from maternity leave, I felt able to take on the challenge and CLS have been a great support, allowing an adjustment in my hours to accommodate my studying needs and also providing financial support. It is incredibly important for me to show my twin girls, who are now eight years old that you can juggle all elements of life and how vital education is for your future development. Something I feel particularly strongly about after leaving my degree.

Since starting the Costs Lawyer Professional Qualification I have found the first two modules on contract law and tort extremely challenging, but I have been reassured that many feel these are the most challenging areas. Every Costs Lawyer I have spoken to agrees the hardest modules come first which has filled me with hope and made me excited to face the next modules.
Already I can feel the positive impact of the knowledge I am receiving. It has reaffirmed what I am doing at work but has also given me more confidence to push back within my role as the costs negotiator in my firm.

A key driver to taking the final hurdle and securing this qualification is knowing once I qualify, I will have the rights of audience to defend the bill I have drafted, instead of relinquishing that right to a colleague. Once that red tape is removed, I can continue with my ultimate ambition, which is to become a judge.

I believe the justice system is integral to a fully functioning society and costs law is a fundamental part of the judicial system. If bills are not prepared, costs are not recovered and access to justice could be in question. It may not be a widely known legal path to follow but it is arguably one of the most important.

Added April 2025