---
title: "Who pays records, experts and barristers"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/disbursement-and-funding-disclosure"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a42-disbursement-and-funding-disclosure"
area_id: "A42"
kind: "letter"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A42-T1-R1", "A42-T1-R2"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-23"
---

# Who pays records, experts and barristers

> A letter saying who pays for records, expert reports and a barrister if the claim fails, and that interest on a disbursement loan is outside D in the Queensland section 347 definition.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/disbursement-and-funding-disclosure  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-23

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Practice area: [Costs, billing & litigation funding](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding.md)
- Jurisdictions: Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-23
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-23 against the 4 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

## When to use it

Use with the costs agreement when the practice or the client will incur fees for records, experts or a barrister. Do not use it to describe a litigation funder's commission. No funding statute was opened for this letter.

## Used for these tasks

- [Draft a costs disclosure from the matter scope and the scale or estimate](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/draft-a-costs-disclosure-from-the-matter-scope-and-the-scale-or-estimate.md)
- [Compare a funding, uplift or common-fund agreement to the current rules](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/compare-a-funding-uplift-or-common-fund-agreement-to-the-current-rules.md)

## How AI may be used

The tool may list the disbursements the lawyer expects and who the agreement says will pay them if the claim fails, and it must not invent a funding scheme or treat loan interest as part of D.

**AI may:**

- List record fees, expert fees and barristers' fees from invoices or written estimates already on the file
- Repeat the disbursement clause the lawyer has chosen in the costs agreement
- State that interest on a disbursement loan is not part of D, using the example in section 347

**AI must not:**

- Must not say the client must fund disbursements, or that the firm must carry them, unless the costs agreement says so
- Must not describe interest on a loan as falling within D
- Must not set out a litigation funding commission, a common-fund order or a statutory funding regime
- Must not decide whether a barrister's fee is inside D. The definitions decide that, and the lawyer applies them

**The lawyer checks:**

- Clause 5 of the Queensland agreement, or the matching clause of the Uniform Law agreement, says the same thing as this letter about payment if the claim fails
- Each amount is a real estimate or invoice. A blank stays blank
- In Queensland, D, legal costs and additional amounts are classified on the cap worksheet before the client is told an amount sits outside the cap
- No funder is mentioned unless the lawyer has a separate document for that funder
- The letter is kept in the firm's system. It names providers and can include health information. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. A loss likely to cause serious harm is assessed under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme

## Authorities

- [Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) s 181(6) (a conditional costs agreement may provide for disbursements to be paid irrespective of the outcome)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/lpul333/s181.html)
- [Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 323(3)(b) (a conditional costs agreement may provide for disbursements to be paid irrespective of the outcome)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/lpa2007179/s323.html)
- [Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 347, definition of D and the examples (medical and expert expenses can fall within D; interest the client pays on a loan for those expenses does not)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/lpa2007179/s347.html)
- [Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 347(8), definition of additional amounts (interest or fees on a loan or on the practice's credit facility, used to fund disbursements, are additional amounts)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/lpa2007179/s347.html)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/disbursement-and-funding-disclosure and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*