Specialisms
Commercial, Insurance, Group Litigation Orders.
Role & Responsibilities
Matthew is Managing Director for the Kain Knight Group of companies. His responsibilities to the board include developing and implementing high-level strategies, monitoring the operational, marketing and business development and financial performances of the Group. Managing the allocation of resources and monitoring the risk profile to deliver overall growth to the business.
Matthew sits on the Executive Board, which oversees the day-to-day management of the Kain Knight Group of companies, and is made up of over 120 employees both in the UK and overseas. He also sits on the Remuneration Committee.
Having graduated from Southampton Solent University and joined Kain Knight in 1997 as a trainee law costs draftsman to deal with legally aided matters. To broaden his experience, he moved into Kain Knight’s specialist insurance team dealing with, in particular, claims for Solicitors’ professional negligence. Following the advent of Conditional Fee Agreements, Matthew spent a great deal of time preparing and opposing substantial Bills in respect of high value personal injury claims. His expertise has also been needed to advise clients on costs recovery arising from Group Litigation Orders, Employment Tribunals and costs out of Central Funds. In 2005 he was appointed a Director of Kain Knight Group PLC and in 2008 Matthew became a Costs Lawyer. Since that time he has been involved in all aspects of legal costs arising from heavy commercial litigation, including those running with parallel cross-border disputes.
Education & Qualifications
Costs Lawyer.
Notable Cases
- Libyan Investment Authority v Societe General
- Al-Gaood v Innospec
- JSC BTA Bank v Mukhtar Ablayzov
- Boris Berezovsky v Roman Abramovich
- (1) Boris Berezovsky (2) Petersham Holdings Limited -v- (1) Edmiston & Company Limited (2) Merle Wood & Associates Inc
- Fiona Trust Holding Corporation & Others v H. Clarkson Ltd
- Safeway Stores Ltd v Simon Twigger & Others
- Various Claimants v Gower Chemicals
- Various Claimants v Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust & Comhome Ltd.
Memberships
Association of Costs Lawyers.
Legal Directories
Matthew is a Recommended Lawyer in the UK Legal 500 rankings, who state that Kain Knight is adept at handling large scale costs disputes in the commercial, insurance, Court of Protection, clinical negligence and serious injury sphere. London based Matthew Kain is recommended for contentious and non-contentious costs issues.
They say “‘Kain Knight are one of the go-to teams of costs lawyers. They act on many of the highest profile costs disputes, ranging from high value multi-party commercial litigation to points of principle that frequently arise in mass market low value claims.“
Interests
Married to Natalie, they have a daughter, Olivia and a son, Harrison. Matt still enjoys playing football and following Tottenham Hotspur. Depending on the season, you may also find him wakeboarding or snowboarding.
Client Testimonial
“I am the Managing Director of Osborne, Morris and Morgan Ltd (OMM). For 30 years my firm has conducted high value Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence work, usually involving severe brain injury.
Going into the pandemic I was looking to outsource my litigation costing primarily with a focus on increasing cash flow in uncertain times. A business consultant that I was using a the time recommended Kain Knight.
Matt personally discussed with me the needs of my business. It was a very easy decision to place my work with him and his firm. From the start I felt as though our business was important to them. We had a number of costs lawyers allocated to us such that we saw an immediate acceleration in the throughput of costs. The quality of the drafting and the advice on costs budgets and settlement offers has been very high. It is clear to me that they are leaders in the field. I would highly recommend Kain Knight.
Finally, they are very easy to deal with which is important to me. We have received swift and detailed responses to our questions. They have looked at wider issues for us, for example retainers and CFAs, and I know that I can pick up the phone to Matt if I need a direct line to the top (which I haven’t!!).
In essence KK and OMM do business in the same way and so it has been a perfect fit.”
Tim Woolford – Managing Director, OMM Ltd.
