Legal Aid & Fees

Initial telephone or email contact with us is free of charge. We will not be able to give you case specific advice over the phone or via email but we would be able to confirm whether we are able to assist and outline, in brief, the general procedures and the assistance we could offer if instructed.

LEGAL AID

If you are eligible for Legal Aid, we will assist you in making an application.  To enable us to do this you must provide us with all information requested in support of the application.  We will be able to give you some initial advice as to the likelihood of you being eligible for Legal Aid.

PRIVATE REPRESENTATION

If you are not eligible for Legal Aid, we will either agree a fixed fee with you or provide an estimate of our fees based on our usual hourly rate, dependant on the individual factors of your case including the type of offence and complexity.

You will be provided with an estimate of our cost at the start of the case. This will be reviewed regularly throughout you case and you will be updated in writing accordingly.

Some cases can be dealt with at one hearing or full advice given in one meeting.  In these circumstances we are happy to agree a fixed fee.  This will vary depending on the case, but we are happy to discuss this on a case by case basis.

Our Minimum fixed fee is £300 + VAT

ROAD TRAFFIC OFFENCES (SUMMARY ONLY) - FIXED FEE

We understand how important your drivers’ licence is and that you may be worried about the risk of losing your licence.  We will give tailored individual advice but set out our fees for these types of cases below.

Guilty Plea

For advice and representation at the Magistrates Court in relation to summary only road traffic offences dealt with at a single hearing we charge a fee of £500.00 + VAT (for 1 hearing and £250 for any additional hearings). This is based on the fact that there will only be one hearing and the case will be concluded at that single hearing. 

For this fee we will: -

Obtain the Prosecution evidence and consider it.

Attend upon you and take your full instructions and advise on the most appropriate plea and likely outcome. This will be done at one meeting.  Additional meetings are not included in the fixed fee.

Where appropriate, advice on whether an exceptional hardship, or special reasons argument should be made. Where such an argument is to be advanced then the fee will be increased to reflect that.

Attend Court with you and represent you at one hearing.  Additional hearings are not included in the fixed fee.

Advising on any appeal if appropriate.

The cost may vary if your case or the issues involved are particularly complex. 

Not Guilty Plea

If you enter a not guilty plea and your case is prepared for and proceeds to trial, we will charge a basic fee of £1000 + VAT for a half day hearing and £1750 plus VAT for a full day hearing and £500 plus VAT for each additional day.

For this fee we will:

Obtain the Prosecution evidence and consider it.

Attend upon you and take your full instructions and advise on the most appropriate plea and likely outcome.  This will be done at one meeting.  Additional meetings are not included in the fixed fee.

Attend upon any defence witnesses and obtain statements.  If there are numerous witnesses this may impact on the fee above. You will be advised if that is the case.

Instruct an expert if necessary.

Attend Court with you and represent you at your trial. Additional hearings are not included in the fixed fee.

Advising on any appeal if appropriate.

All work is undertaken by a Solicitor or Consultant Solicitor unless agreed otherwise.

The cost may vary if your case or the issues involved are particularly complex.  We will discuss this with you in advance. 

LEGAL EXPENSES COVER

You may have Legal Expenses cover under your household, car or other insurance policies. We would advise you to speak to your Insurers about this.  It is possible for us to be appointed to act on your behalf by your Insurers but you must contact them and discuss the matter to seek their approval in advance.  It is also dependent upon them agreeing to our Terms of Business and hourly rates and us agreeing with their Terms of Business in relation to payment.

ALL CASES

Please note that reference to VAT in this document means VAT at the current rate of 20% unless otherwise stated.  The above fees do not include any disbursements, experts’ fees or other expenses incurred in relation to the conduct of your case i.e., travel expense.  These items will be discussed with you in advance and agreed in writing.