Our Fees
All information regarding our fees and how they are determined can be found below.
How Our Fees Are Determined
The cost of litigation work can be much harder to determine than if you were to pay for any other product or service. litigation is often unpredictable and, if not carefully handled, can lead to a build-up of expenses. Many factors must be considered when dealing with litigation, including the nature and complexity of the matter, how committed your opponent is, how developed the situation is, and what is required to move the case forward and reach a resolution.
Of course, in each case, a party has to consider the risk of the litigation and the fact that one side may end up paying the other party’s legal costs. Disbursements such as barrister’s costs or the fees for an expert should also be considered when considering costs.
Our experienced team members will do all they can to give you the most realistic estimates of costs at every stage of your case and will help you plan the funding of your case by advising you when advance payments are required. The basis of our charging is pre-agreed with you when we send you our ‘client care letter’ at the outset of a case together with our ‘terms of business’.
Often, as a case evolves and the ‘story’ unfolds, cost estimates may vary, and you should bear this in mind. Invariably, clients will incur expenses before important stages of the court proceedings. For example, plenty of work is put in before court hearings begin, and the costs will depend on the required work.
We aim to make your matter as cost-effective as possible, given the case’s particular circumstances. We are always happy to discuss our fees and the funding of your case. Generally, the following charging structures apply to the services we provide:
Hourly Rates
Our charges are typically based on the time we spend dealing with your case. Further details are contained within our terms of business. We are very confident that our hourly rates are highly competitive, given the experience of our team and the level of service you’ll receive.
Our current hourly rates that apply to office hours are (ex VAT):
| For a Partner (Director) or Consultant | £295 – £525 per hour |
| For a Solicitor | £195 – £275 per hour |
| For a Trainee Solicitor | £145 – £195 per hour |
| For a Paralegal | £105 – £145 per hour |
| For a Barrister/Advocate | Varies depending on seniority |
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Debt Recovery Costs
Debt recovery costs apply when your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice that is not disputed and where enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary. These costs may be a fixed fee (e.g., a one-off letter is required) or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed. The costs are fixed.
| Debt value | Court fee | Our fee (incl. VAT) |
| Up to £5,000 | £35 to £205 | £250 (plus VAT of £50) |
| £5,001 – £10,000 | £455 | £500 (plus VAT of £100) |
| £10,001 – £25,000 | 5% value of the claim | POA * |
| £25,001 – £100,000 | 5% value of the claim | POA * |
* The advisor dealing with the matter will be identified depending on the matter’s complexity and the claim’s value; hourly rates may apply or a fixed fee may be agreed.
Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:
- The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor in certain circumstances.
- Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding with a higher cost.
- The above prices are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
Our fee includes:
- Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation.
- Undertaking appropriate searches
- Sending a letter before action
- Receiving payment and sending it to you, or drafting and issuing a claim if the debt is not paid.
- Where no acknowledgement of service or defence is received, applying to the court to enter judgment in default.
- When the judgment in default is received, write to the other side to request payment.
If payment is not received within 28 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs.
Matters usually take 1 to 4 months from receipt of instructions to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of judgment in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.
Fixed Fee Work
Litigation rarely lends itself to fixed fees. However, our ethos is to be as competitively priced as possible, and we have formulated many debt recovery and landlord and tenant services where we charge fixed fees.
For other areas of litigation, we would be pleased to offer a service in which you pay for a fixed period based on our hourly rates. For example, if you wish to instruct a junior member of our team to review/check papers that you have drafted for a small claims hearing where you want to conduct the matter yourself, you could pay for, say, an hour (or part of an hour) of trainee Solicitor’s time.
Our approach is to be as versatile and adaptable for our client’s needs, so if you wish to enquire whether we can offer a fixed fee for any aspect of your litigation matter, please get in touch with us.
Conditional Fee Work
This is also known as ‘no win, no fee’ work.
We can conduct work under a ‘conditional fee agreement’ where the circumstances of the case merit so. Your case will be referred to our funding panel to see if our management team finds that conducting the case under a ‘conditional fee arrangement’ is viable.
For more information, please contact us.
Other Methods Of Funding
Insurance:
Sometimes, you may be covered by legal expenses insurance, which covers your legal costs. Legal expenses insurance is often included in household or motoring insurance. In particular cases, it may be appropriate to purchase specialist-type insurance called ‘after the event’ insurance – this normally goes hand in hand with a ‘conditional fee arrangement’ – a detailed explanation outlining the mechanics of this type of funding is required, and we would be pleased to discuss this with you over a no-obligation phone call.
Statute:
In some matters, legal costs may be met through funding permitted by a statutory provision. For example, in some trusts and probate disputes and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Families and Dependants) Act 1975, an application may be made to the court under section 5 of that Act for an ‘interim order’. This outlines that a party may be paid out of an estate pending the final resolution of a matter.
The situations in which this type of funding may apply are highly specialised, and we would be pleased to discuss this further with you.
To further discuss the cost issues and your case, please contact us at +44 (0) 1908 924 200 for a no-obligation chat.
