ACL vice-chair named Costs Lawyer of the Year, with former judge recognised for her work
ACL vice-chair Victoria Morrison-Hughes was last week crowned Costs Lawyer of the Year at the Modern Law Awards, while ACL honorary member Dr Victoria McCloud received a lifetime achievement award.
The Costs Lawyer of the Year Award was sponsored by the ACL but chair David Bailey-Vella withdrew from the judging process given the nomination of Ms Morrison-Hughes and also Kris Kilsby, whose six-year stint as a Council member has just ended.
Ms Morrison-Hughes, who runs Integral Legal Costs in Manchester, said she was “incredibly proud” to have won.
She said: “It’s a privilege to be recognised for work focused on technical excellence, client-centred outcomes and in so doing to help raise greater awareness of the costs profession across the legal industry.”
Two nominees were highly commended: Adam Fox, legal costs manager at NWL Costs Lawyers, and Steven Green, partner and national head of costs at Irwin Mitchell.
Alongside Mr Kilsby, who works at Peak Costs, Paul McCarthy, partner and head of costs at HF, was also nominated.
Dr McCloud, who retired from the High Court bench in 2024, was made an honorary member of the ACL later that year.
She said: “I was very honoured and surprised to be told I had won the Lifetime Achievement Award, which truly matters to me. The event was lovely and I’d like to express my thanks to the organisers, Modern Law, and the sponsors of the awards, Clio.
“It was also excellent to see friendly faces from the costs law world and to be able to ’namecheck’ the important subject of legal costs in my acceptance speech.”
Dr McCloud lives in the Republic of Ireland now, which she said was “due to the ’trans’ civil rights crisis in the UK which arose last year”.
She is semi-retired but acts as a legal consultant via W-Legal solicitors remotely and is an associate tenant at Gatehouse Chambers in London.
“Both of those businesses and colleagues there have welcomed me with open arms, showing that the underlying tolerance of many in the legal profession towards my own minority still remains.”
She is also starting up a software development company rolling out bespoke and other AI-powered systems, continues to speak regularly on law, legal tech and other areas, and is a trustee of the London Asbestos Support Awareness Group.
Dr McCloud added: “When and if things improve in the UK so that it is safe for me to spend more time there – and perhaps if my minority regains rights to equal pay with men too – I hope to return to part-time judicial work in the High Court. I naturally miss my colleagues both in the High Court and also in the costs profession.”
The awards were hosted by barrister-turned-celebrity Rob Rinder.