We understand that affordability is a concern for anyone needing the services of a lawyer. As a result we pride ourselves on providing good value for money to all of our clients. We will always investigate with you the most cost-effective way of funding your case, whether that be through legal aid, personal insurance, fixed fees or private funding. We will agree our costs with you beforehand with a clear explanation of the work that we will undertake on your behalf.
Advice and assistance in the police station will always be free of charge to you.
We will always investigate whether you are able to have the benefit of legal aid for additional work undertaken during the investigation stage, or for representation before the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts.
In the Magistrates’ Court both a merits and means test is applied, and in the Crown Court simply a means test.
In the Crown Court we will always consider whether legal aid is the most appropriate way of funding your case, bearing in mind the potential expense of legal aid contributions. A fee based on the legal aid fee that would be payable is often a helpful starting point.
We offer fixed fee arrangements in Road Traffic Cases and other cases in the Magistrates Courts where clients either wish to pay privately or fail any means test.
You can read in detail about our fixed fees for motoring law cases by following this link,
Our fixed fees for other Magistrates’ Court trials are likely to be similar depending upon the complexity of the matter.
The cost of Crown Court representation on a private basis will always depend on the seriousness and complexity of the case and whether you choose to be represented by an in-house solicitor advocate or external counsel.
We apply different sets of charging rates per hour for time spent on cases [including via telephone, letters and emails] depending upon the seniority of the lawyers decided upon in conjunction with the client in any given case. In addition, charges are made where a disbursement is incurred on behalf of a client.
Different rates apply for Senior Solicitors, Associate Solicitors and Paralegals.
At the very start of your case we will assess with you how much we believe our charges, disbursements and VAT will cost. We will set out the steps we believe we will need to undertake on your behalf, the hourly rates involved, the number of hours it will take us to deal with the case and the anticipated total cost.
Should any extra work arise we will not undertake any of this without revising our estimate and, of course, gaining your consent.
Having agreed our fees we would hope that the totality of the monies can be paid on account at the start of the case. We understand, however, that not everyone will be able to settle the monies straight away. As such we will arrange to take payments on account from you to meet the cost of your case.
