We believe businesses and individuals face enough uncertainty without having to worry about legal fees. Low initial estimates often turn into bills for thousands of pounds with little or no prior warning. All too often the only certainty is that solicitors will charge a high hourly rate and apply it vigorously to all work done on a client's behalf.
In order to plan ahead with confidence, uncertainties must be kept to a minimum. In most other areas of life prices are fixed at the outset. We believe the same principle can and should apply to the provision of legal services.
We aim not to charge you an hourly rate but instead to provide where possible a full range of legal services either at a predetermined fixed price or on a 'No Win, No Fee' basis. Where this is not possible for any reason we are flexible about how we charge and it can usually be made affordable.
Our bottom line is that we are committed to helping you whatever the nature of your transaction or claim. A realistic and open approach to the costs involved is both healthy and responsible, but we don't want to add to your troubles by making life impossible.
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This is our preferred method of charging as you know in advance exactly what you will have to pay. It is especially suitable for normal conveyancing, will writing and probate work and most family disputes where the work required is usually predictable.
In such cases we will give you a binding quotation for the matter or for each stage of the matter. We will also agree with you how that amount should be paid; either at the conclusion of the matter or in stage payments as it progresses.
That the fee is fixed can be a disadvantage as well as an advantage. We take the rough with the smooth so it stands to reason your fee may be more than the amount whch would have been payable had the work been charged in the traditional manner. Most of our clients consider the advantage of certainty outweighs that theorectical risk but not all and you are free to choose to pay by the hour if you prefer.
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Under a conditional fee agreement, the amount you pay us is dependant on your achieving success in your claim. For practical reasons and also because the operation of conditional fee agreements are heavily regulated, they are neither suitable nor necessarily available for all types of work (for example, they cannot be used in family cases).
In the vast majority of personal injury cases we will offer a "No Win, No Fee" agreement under which you do not have to pay us anything for our work unless you recover damages. If you do recover damages you become liable to pay our normal fees charged by the hour together with a success fee. This success fee is an added percentage of the normal fee the exact rate of which will depend both on the level of risk attached to the case and the stage at which we secure your success. The maximum allowed by law is 100% so you could be liable for twice the normal charges.
However, costs are normally payable by the losing party in litgation so if you succeed, your opponent will be expected to pay your legal fees and, by law, this includes the success fee. Our aim in these cases is that you do not have to pay anything whether you win or lose your case.
Owing to the particular difficulties inherent in Occupational Stress cases we rarely offer "No Win, No Fee" agreements (but will consider them unlike most firms) but offer a "No Win, Reduced Fee" agreement instead. They operate in the same way save that even if you do not win your case, you are liable to pay us a much reduced hourly rate for our work.
The nature of employment cases and the fact you usually cannot recover your costs from your opponent even if you succeed, requires a different approach. Here, we will normally agree what is known as a contingency fee agreement. This is essentially the same system as operates in the US by which our fee is calculated as an agreed percentage of the amount you actually recover. By definition then, if you lose you do not pay us anything.
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For all its flaws, the traditional means of charging remains both practical and efficient. In the absence of any other agreement, or where you prefer, we will charge on the basis of time spent dealing with your case. We will render invoices periodically as may be agreed - for example, monthly, quarterly, or after particular milestones have passed.
The advantage of this is that the litigation is under your control. You may impose financial limits and decide to call a halt at any time (although care is needed if litigation has actually started as you may be exposed to liability for your opponent's costs). Our hourly rates depend on the seniority and experience of the person handling your case and the nature of the work but will be agreed with you at the outset.
Situations vary, but we will usually ask for some funding "up front". This is put on clients' account and can be used to pay invoices as a matter proceeds, or as security that invoices will be paid. We have had very few difficulties with clients paying bills but one or two bad experiences have, unfortunately, led us to be cautious about this.
We find the most sensible course is to set up a monthly payment arrangement with those payments being applied to our invoices or other expenses on a regular basis. This makes it easier for you to budget and ensures you are not confronted with large demands out of the blue.
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In all fields of work we will add disbursements such as, in litigation cases, counsel's and expert's fees, court fees, travel, copying etc. and, in for example, conveyancing, search and Land Registry fees. Save in most personal injury cases where we can make special arrangements, we will ask for these when they fall due (or budget for them in any monthly payment plan).
We deliberately refer to tax in broad terms because the obvious tax we are obliged by law to collect for HMG, Vat, is not the only tax we collect. The largest is Stamp Duty Land Tax on the vast majority of house purchases but as most court, search and registration fees are paid to one Government body or another the list is rather longer!
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The danger of having to pay not only your own costs but the other side's costs as well if you lose, is a constant worry. However, there are ways of dealing with this, including obtaining insurance.
People often have legal expenses insurance as part of a household policy. "After the event" insurance is readily available for routine personal injury claims but can be expensive if the claim is out of the ordinary and difficult to obtain at all in some types of case, especially Occupational Stress cases. We will always do our best to locate insurance for you (but you do not necessarily have to take it) as we recognise it can help you sleep easier.
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