---
title: "Opening costs estimate worksheet"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/opening-costs-estimate-worksheet"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a42-opening-costs-estimate-worksheet"
area_id: "A42"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A42-T1-R1", "A42-A20260923-2"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-23"
---

# Opening costs estimate worksheet

> An internal worksheet for the figures that go into the first costs disclosure. It is not the later significant-change letter, and it is not a comparison of a draft bill.

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

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

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- 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 5 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

## When to use it

Use before the first costs disclosure is sent, so the estimate, the disbursements and any uplift are written down with their assumptions. Do not send this worksheet to the client in place of the disclosure.

## 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 draft bill to the last costs disclosure and any updates](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/compare-a-draft-bill-to-the-last-costs-disclosure-and-any-updates.md)

## How AI may be used

The tool may assemble this worksheet from assumptions the lawyer has already written down, and it must not invent a threshold, a rate or an uplift percentage.

**AI may:**

- Set out the statute the lawyer has selected and leave the other state's threshold blank
- Record the estimate, the range and the major variables in the lawyer's words
- Flag that a later bill is compared on the existing bill-comparison worksheet, not on this page

**AI must not:**

- Must not send this worksheet to the client as if it were the disclosure
- Must not treat the Victorian $750 and $3,000 figures as sections of the Act, or copy them into Queensland or New South Wales
- Must not apply the Uniform Law belief test to a Queensland uplift
- Must not calculate the fee from the likely settlement

**The lawyer checks:**

- Every dollar figure was adopted by the lawyer. A blank means it is not yet known
- The Victorian thresholds are re-read in the current Uniform Rules. The Board page used here is marked © 2020
- The New South Wales threshold amounts are inserted from the current Uniform Rules. They were not on the Victorian page
- The Queensland lower threshold is inserted from the current Act or regulation. It was not opened for this worksheet
- An uplift complies with section 182 or section 324, for the statute that applies, and is not a percentage of the outcome
- The worksheet stays in the firm's system

## Authorities

- [Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) s 174(1), (2), (4), (5) and (6) (basis and estimate as soon as practicable, significant change, rights, Uniform Rules thresholds, disclosure in writing)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/lpul333/s174.html)
- [Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 308(4)(a) to (f) (basis, rights including notice of a substantial change under s 315, estimate or range, billing intervals, interest, and litigious ranges)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/lpa2007179/s308.html)
- [Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) s 182 (uplift in a litigious matter: reasonable belief that success is reasonably likely, cap of 25% of legal costs excluding disbursements, basis and estimate)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/lpul333/s182.html)
- [Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 324 (uplift basis, estimate or range, 25% cap; no belief test in the text opened)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/lpa2007179/s324.html)
- [Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner, Costs disclosure (page states $750 and $3,000 thresholds excluding GST and disbursements; footer © 2020)](https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/lawyers/legal-costs/costs-disclosure)

## 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/opening-costs-estimate-worksheet 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.*