Fraser Barnstaple

Fraser’s practice spans the full spectrum of Costs and Litigation Funding to include advice, drafting and advocacy in respect of inter-partes costs disputes and solicitor-client disputes. He is nominated for the Commercial Litigation Junior of the Year Award by the Legal 500 (with costs and Litigation Funding being considered Commercial Litigation for the purposes of the award).

In his time at the bar, Fraser has developed a practice far beyond his year of call. He has already been instructed in numerous multimillion-pound costs claims, has appeared in the Court of Appeal and has built up a considerable and impressive level experience of the following types of hearings:

• Detailed assessments (in the SCCO and the County Court);
• Provisional assessment review hearings;
• Fixed costs determinations;
• Costs and Case Management Conferences (“CCMCs”);
• Hearings involving the assessment of costs deductions from protected party’s damages;
• A range of application hearings involving wasted costs, relief from sanctions, fixed costs challenges, the applicability of QOCS, expert/agency fees, and the setting aside of Default Costs Certificates etc;
• Hearings in respect of solicitor-client disputes, including directions hearings, application hearings and detailed assessments where the dispute involves a challenge to the solicitors’ fees and;
• Beneficiary assessments.

Fraser has a busy paperwork practice, and is regularly instructed to drafts pleadings in solicitor-client matters, points of dispute, replies, advices and witness statements, and is well equipped to advise in conference.

Fraser is currently seconded to work one day each week in the costs team of a major national law firm, advising on and drafting pleadings in relation to costs and litigation funding in high value clinical negligence and personal injury matters.

Fraser frequently delivers training and webinars and writes articles for various legal news platforms on issues of costs and litigation funding. Fraser also drafts, edits and updates costs-associated Practice Notes and Guidance for LexisNexis.

He completed a specialist costs and litigation funding pupillage under the supervision of Kevin Latham, Andrew Hogan and Erica Bedford in 2025.

Prior to beginning his career at the Bar, Fraser worked for over two years as a Senior Underwriter in the ATE legal expenses insurance and litigation funding industry. He remains a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, having obtained a Level 3 Certificate in Insurance (CII) qualification in August 2024 and therefore is well positioned to deal with matters which straddle an insurance and litigation funding crossover.