Spotlight on: Thomas Spanyol, Senior Costs Lawyer
“Almost 24 years ago, I secured a job as a “taxation clerk”. At the time, I had little idea about what that meant and no idea where the path I had started on would lead me. Given that the Civil Procedure Rules had recently been introduced, it appears that my employer at the time was also a little unsure of my role, having yet to get to grips with the new “detailed assessment” terminology!
It has been fascinating to experience how the legal costs industry has developed over this period. In the beginning, as I started filing papers at Court and undertaking general clerking duties, costs was a growth sector with the advent of bill drafting becoming a recoverable cost. I was learning the art of becoming a Costs Draftsperson throughout the Costs Wars of the early 2000s before going on to qualify as a Costs Lawyer in 2008. I was also fortunate enough to have been exposed to all types of costs cases during these early years, before focusing on costs issues arising in commercial litigation and arbitration.
Working for the majority of my career at a City of London based costs consultancy, I was appointed to the Partnership in 2011 and ran the Commercial team there together with Francis Kendall prior to his departure to set up Kain Knight’s City offering in 2018. I continued to run the Commercial team, building relationships with a number of City firms as well as becoming responsible for the finance side of the business, together with the Managing Partner and Finance Manager.
So why Kain Knight? The opportunity to reconnect and work again with some of the best costs professionals I have worked with during my career to date made this an easy decision. Having spent a lot of time in my previous role being involved in management of a business, I’m now enjoying being able to focus on core work and delivering projects with my new colleagues – exactly what I was looking for with the move.”
