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Fees

Most of our work is funded privately, either by companies or individuals. We do not work on a contingency fee basis ie ‘no win, no fee‘ for any type of legal issue or case. In most of the areas of law that we deal with we charge a fixed fee. Wewill give you a clear understanding of what our services cost from the very outset, and what the maximum amount you would have. We do not charge you by the hours we spend on your case and our fees will not increase even if we spend more hours on your case during that stage than previously anticipated unless there is a change of circumstance in your case and the nature of the work we need to do changes. We will always inform you before we begin any such work and give you an estimate of the additional fees. In addition to our profit costs (our fees for the work we do for you) you may have to pay disbursements and Vat. Disbursements are fees payable to other parties to obtain their services. These may include fees for barristers, interpreters, experts, medical reports, travel costs, etc.We will also seek your approval for any disbursements before instructing interpreter, translator and expert. Some of the criminal and fraud defence work which we undertake is funded by Government (i.e. Legal Aid) but note that eligibility for Legal Aid is subject to stringent eligibility criteria and means testing. Clients often find that the Legal Aid Agency determines that applicants must make substantial contributions from the capital and/or income before granting legal aid to fund legal representation. Unlike our larger competitors, we offer a very personal client service, clients are not regarded as another file number or unit cost by us. The high overall client satisfaction is reflected in our excellent case results. We are clear about legal costs and set out-out terms and conditions at the beginning of the professional relationship within our Client Care and engagement letters. We also try to be as flexible with our fees as the case will allow, some cases are simply too complex to merit a full fixed fee rate, but in those cases, we may be able to offer fixed fees per each stage of the proceedings. Clients expect transparency and certainty, and we understand that perfectly well, we also understand that it must be a fair and equitable process, that keeps everybody happy.

Fee Structure

Traffic offences, guilty plea – fixed fee £1000 plus VAT at 20%

Fee includes:

• 2 hours attendance/preparation:
  • considering evidence
  • taking your instructions
  • providing advice on likely sentence
• Attendance and representation at a single hearing at the Magistrates Court

The fee does not include:

• instruction of any expert witnesses (£2500-£5000)
• taking statements from any witnesses
• advice and assistance in relation to a special reasons hearing
• advice or assistance in relation to any appeal

The key stages of your matter are based on the presumption that you have entered a guilty plea and have a date for your hearing.

• Meet with your solicitor to provide instructions on what happened.
• We will consider initial disclosure, and any other evidence and provide advice.
• Arranging to take any witness statements if necessary (this will have an additional cost, of £350.00).
• We will explain the court procedure to you so you know what to expect on the day of your hearing, and the sentencing options available to the court.
• We will conduct any further preparatory work, obtain further instructions from you if necessary and answer any follow up queries you have.
• We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court listing for that day.
• We will attend court on the day and meet with you before going before the court. We anticipate being at court for half a day.
• We will discuss the outcome with you. If advice is required on appeal, this will carry an additional cost.

Traffic offences, not guilty plea – fixed fee £2500 plus VAT at 20% for a half day trial or £5000 plus VAT at 20% for whole day trial

Fee includes:

• 10 hours attendance/preparation:
  • considering evidence
  • taking your instructions
  • taking statements from any witnesses
  • providing advice on likely sentence
• Attendance and representation at the first appearance, trial and sentencing hearing at the Magistrates Court

The fee does not include:

• instruction of any expert witnesses (£2500 – £5000)
• advice or assistance in relation to any appeal

The key stages of your matter are based on the presumption that you have entered a not guilty plea.

• Meet with your solicitor to provide initial instructions on what happened.
• We will consider initial disclosure, and any other evidence and provide advice.
• Arranging to take your full instructions and any witness statements if necessary
• Preparing your statement and witnesses statements
• We will explain the court procedure to you so you know what to expect on the day of your hearings and the sentencing options available to the court.
• We will conduct any further preparatory work, obtain further instructions from you if necessary and answer any follow up queries you have.
• We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court listing for that day.
• We will discuss the outcome with you. If advice and representation is required on appeal, this will carry an additional cost.

Immigration cases

Application for leave to remain / indefinite leave to remain within the Immigration Rules – fixed fee £2000 plus VAT at 20% Application for leave to remain / indefinite leave to remain outside the Immigration Rules – fixed fee £3000 plus VAT at 20% Application for naturalisation or registration under the British Nationality Act 1981– fixed fee £2000 plus VAT at 20% Application for on behalf of European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and their family members under the applicable EEA Regulations or Immigration Rules, including applications for permanent residence, residence cards, and registration certificates– fixed fee £2000 plus VAT at 20% The work will involve:

• discussing your circumstances in detail and confirming whether what is the most appropriate application for you to make and what other options may be available to you;
• giving you advice about the requirements of the Immigration Rules and whether you meet the criteria.
• if you do not fulfil certain criteria, whether this can be overcome and how
• considering the supporting evidenceyou have provided
• where necessary, helping you obtain further evidence (such as medical records and bank statements), including taking statements of any witnesses
• preparing your application and submitting it on your behalf
• giving you advice about the outcome of the application and any further steps you need to take.

The costs quoted here do not include:

• Any Home Office fees for making the application. You could pay this to the Home Office directly as part of the application process or we could pay on your behalf.
• Where the Home Office refuse your application, advice and assistance in relation to any appeal
• Interpreters fees at £100 per hour (if one is needed). Normally, an application will normally require between 4-6 hours with an interpreter, depending on the complexity of your case.
• Independent expert reports e.g. medical experts. (£2500-£5000) These are not required in many cases: we will let you know as soon as possible if we consider an expert report is necessary.
• If there is an interview and you wish us to attend with you, there will be additional fees for our attendance and disbursements in respect of our mileage/travel expenses. We will give you clear advice (and discuss the possibility of us attending with you) at the appropriate time.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as visa fees, interpreters’ fees and independent expert fees. We could handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process if you so wish.

How long will my application take?

We cannot guarantee how long the Home Office will take to process your application. Read the Home Office current processing times. We will normally be able to submit any application within 2-4 weeks of you instructing us, but we will let you know at the earliest opportunity if it is likely to take longer than this. All applications are likely to vary and of course, we can give you a more accurate time scale once we have more information about your specific case.