Legal Costs Specialists  ·  Established 1979

Bills of costs drafted before your next meeting.

Over 40 years of specialist expertise, now powered by proprietary AI technology. We read your matter files, apply the tariff precisely, and deliver structured draft bills, reviewed and finalised by our consultants before they reach you.

Draft Bill Generator  ·  RTC AI
$ rtc-ai --matter "Apteker & 21 Others v Min of Home Affairs"
 
Reading matter files…
    NOM, FA, CA + proof of service.pdf  [79 pages]
    INV696 — Counsel Fee Note.pdf
    Practice Note.docx
    Proof of Service.pdf
 
Generating entries…
  2024-07-08   Drawing Notice of Motion — 2 pagesR 168
  2024-07-08   Drawing Founding Affidavit — 14 pagesR 1 176
  2024-07-08   Drawing Confirmatory Affidavit of N. AptekerR 84
  2024-07-08   Drawing Confirmatory Affidavit of R. KhanR 84
  2024-07-08   Attending ad jurat — 22 deponentsR 417
  2024-08-06   Perusing Sheriff’s Return — 1st RespondentR 84
  2024-08-06   Attending to draw cheque & pay SheriffR 84 + disb.
  …   76 further entries
 
  ✓  83 entries generated  ·  Expert review in progress
1979
Established
45+
Years of expertise
All Courts
High Court to ConCourt
2
Offices: CT & Jhb

What we do

Comprehensive legal costs services.

We offer effective solutions to all your legal costs needs and remain available to address queries throughout the life of each matter, from initial instruction to final order.

01
Drafting Bills of Costs

Party-party and attorney-client bills across all court levels: High Court, Labour Court, Supreme Court of Appeal, Constitutional Court, Competition Tribunal, and Magistrates' Court. Non-litigious bills in accordance with Legal Practice Council guidelines, and UK Detailed Assessment proceedings.

02
Opposing Bills of Costs

File inspection, preparation of notices of opposition, and detailed objection points in accordance with High Court Rule 70 amendments. Our objections library and in limine argument database ensure every applicable point is identified and properly motivated.

03
Security for Costs

Development of pro-forma bills for Rule 47 security applications, advice on the appropriate amount to request, and attendance at hearings for the assessment of security for costs.

04
Attending Taxations

Experienced representation before the Taxing Master, whether presenting or opposing. We appear in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, and wherever else the matter requires. Full preparation as standard.

05
Costs Estimates & Pro-Forma Bills

Projected bills for settlement discussions, client advice on anticipated costs exposure, and legal aid applications, generated quickly and accurately using our proprietary cost modelling tool, covering all matter types and court levels.

06
Settlement, Advice & Arbitration

Costs settlement negotiations, expert evidence on costs issues, costs arbitration under AFSA and court-annexed arbitration, costs seminars for law firms, and tailored costs management solutions for individual practices.

Our technology

Proprietary AI-assisted bill preparation.

We have built our own bill preparation platform, purpose-designed for South African legal costs practice, combining AI language models with complete tariff schedules for every court level. The result is faster turnaround, greater consistency, and more thoroughly argued bills.

  • Bill Assistant: 4 matter types
    Guided bill generation for Action, Application, Interlocutory, and Appeal matters. Answer structured questions about each stage; the system produces a complete, tariff-correct bill.
  • Court Bundle & Document Import
    Download a court bundle and our system reads every section using AI: pleadings, affidavits, notices, court orders, returns of service. Each document is classified, page-counted, and converted into the correct tariff entry automatically.
  • Pro-Forma Cost Modelling
    Generate a projected bill of costs for any matter type in minutes, covering actual costs to date and projected costs going forward. Useful for settlement discussions and client cost-benefit advice.
  • Full Tariff Schedule Integration
    Complete tariff schedules for all courts, covering all scales and effective dates, are built in. Rates apply automatically by date and court, eliminating manual lookups and rate errors entirely.
  • Objections & In Limine Library
    A curated library of standard in limine arguments and objection precedents drawn from 45 years of taxation experience. Nothing is overlooked; full precedent text is inserted with a single selection.
  • Intelligent Entry Suggestions
    The platform learns from every bill prepared and suggests the most likely next tariff item as work progresses. Standard procedural sequences are recognised automatically.

Our platform is proprietary and runs entirely within our secure environment. Your matter files do not leave your document system; only extracted text is processed.

We continue to work with hard copy files and prepare or oppose bills in the traditional way whenever the matter or client requires it. Our technology enhances what we do; it does not replace the professional judgement and personal service behind it.

Bundle processor  ·  RTC AI
$ split-bundle "NOM, FA, CA + proof of service.pdf"
 
Analysing PDF structure…
  Pages: 79  ·  Headings detected: 20  ·  TOC: none
 
Splitting into sections…
  Notice of Motion.pdf                     [3 pages]
  Founding Affidavit.pdf                  [29 pages]
  Confirmatory Affidavit.pdf              [2 pages]
  Confirmatory Affidavit 2.pdf             [2 pages]
  Confirmatory Affidavit 3.pdf             [2 pages]
  … 12 further affidavit sections …
  Return of Service.pdf                   [1 page]
  Return of Service 2.pdf                  [1 page]
 
  ✓  20 sections identified  ·  AI classifying each independently

How it works

From matter file to finalised bill.

A short instruction is all we need. The work happens on our side.

01
Send the instruction

Email us the matter name, court, case number, and a secure link to your document folder. A brief note on context helps; we confirm receipt promptly.

02
AI processes the file

Our system reads every document, classifies each item, applies the correct tariff rate for the date of each entry, and generates a structured draft bill.

03
Expert review & finalisation

Our consultant reviews every entry, adjusting dates, page counts, descriptions, and disbursements. Over 40 years of judgment applied before the bill leaves our office.

04
Precise, defensible bill

You receive a complete bill in the correct format, ready for service, taxation, or settlement, backed by expert knowledge of the tariff and Taxing Master expectations.

About us

Over four decades at the forefront of legal costs.

Established in 1979, Rand Taxing Consultants has been a leading name in the South African legal costs profession, serving practices of all sizes from offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

KF
Kevin Friedlander
Partner, Cape Town

Kevin began his career as a costs consultant in Johannesburg before relocating to London for a decade, where he specialised in complex, high-value civil and criminal litigation, preparing bills of costs in landmark civil and criminal matters and managing costs for government inquiries.

Returning to South Africa in 2007, Kevin established the Cape Town office, obtained accreditation in mediation and arbitration, and now leads the development of the firm's proprietary AI-assisted bill preparation technology. He is a member of the AFSA Legal Costs Panel for the Cape Region and Garden Route, regularly appointed to tax bills of costs in arbitration matters.

SF
Stan Friedlander
Principal, Johannesburg

Stan has spent over four decades at the centre of the South African legal costs profession. Based in Johannesburg, he specialises in the preparation and challenging of bills of costs and serves as a Taxing Master for the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA).

His depth of experience across every court level, matter type, and tariff change over the years remains the bedrock of the firm's expertise.

Consultants

YS
Yvette Smit
Consultant

BCom Accounting from UP. Financial management experience across a number of companies from 1993, bringing commercial and accounting discipline to cost analysis and drafting.

KR
Kim Ross Bloom
Consultant

Admitted Attorney with right of appearance. BA (Law) from Wits; experience in personal injury litigation and estate administration at Sanlam Trust, combining legal and procedural expertise in costs work and attendance at taxations.

Professional affiliations

AFSA — Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa ADR Network South Africa BLCM

Get in touch

Discuss your matter with us.

We welcome enquiries from attorneys and law firms throughout South Africa. Contact us to discuss your matter or to find out more about our services; we respond promptly to all enquiries.

Cape Town
201A Soho-On-Strand, 128 Strand Street
Cape Town, 8001
(021) 419 1113  /  079 814 4433
Fax: (086) 660 2307
info@randtax.co.za
Johannesburg
129 2nd Street, Parkmore
Sandton, 2196
083 326 4898
Fax: (086) 538 2920
jhb@randtax.co.za
Nationwide
We appear in all major centres: Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Bloemfontein, and handle UK Detailed Assessment proceedings.
Thank you, we will be in touch shortly.
Cape Town: info@randtax.co.za  ·  Johannesburg: jhb@randtax.co.za