Fee Transparency

Pricing of legal services is always near to the top of the list for all of our clients. To promote financial certainty, we estimate our costs based on a defined statement of work at the outset of our retainer. We are upfront about how and what we charge, so that our relationship is built on a firm foundation. We make the best use of each of our solicitor's time, and assign work to the appropriate skilled person so that the appropriate rate is charged for the level of skill required to complete the task required..

Where we are not able to estimate costs reliably (for instance, we might not know the whole story at the time we are asked), we provide rough costs guidance on based on the resources likely to be required to perform a defined scope of work. This promotes financial certainty for our clients so that they know what they will be charged.

Our Estimates

When estimating our costs in complex cases, we provide detailed breakdowns of the costs that would ordinarily be incurred in advancing the case, along with other information to aid decision-making on your part (which we would not wish to disclose to our competitors).

Basis of Charging

We make clear the basis of charging at the very outset and monitor our costs to ensure that our estimates are not exceeded before telling you that this might be necessary, along with the reasons why. Where we agree a fixed fee with you or where we are working on time basis, we set out what the estimate includes, and the expenses we expect would need to be incurred by us on your behalf (we call these “disbursements”). Disbursements include expenses such as court filing fees, courier fees and seek reimbursement of these expenses from you.

We like many other UK solicitors we use time costing systems for charging clients in cases where it is not practical or possible to quote a fixed fee. We try to agree fixed fee rates for buying or selling a house, preparing a lease or will. Other types of work cannot really be done on a fixed fee basis because of the uncertainties involved, such as the conduct of the other side in a dispute and what a court may require as a matter as a part of advancing your case in legal proceedings. In many disputes, there is no way of knowing how some cases will be resolved or how long the case might last.

Related to this is the level of the effort that will be required to achieve a particular result – most often we have a very good idea, however there are many things that might happen (such as an obstructive approach taken by your opponent) which increases the level of effort required to move towards that result. In some cases, a result cannot be obtained unless the case is moved to a full hearing before a judge. Despite the volume of law reports which are produced every year, cases that come before a judge are actually quite few in number relative to the number of disputes which arise.

We work hard with our clients to reduce these contingencies and adopt methods and approaches to increase certainty for our clients.

What we do not Charge

1. We not pass on our own charges for sending letters (such as postage and facsimiles), other than where courier charges are necessarily incurred. It is included in the charges we estimate or fix by agreement with you.
2. This firm does not apply an 'uplift' of any sort, ever. In order to charge an “uplift” it must be mentioned in a solicitor’s Terms of Business. It might be worthwhile  checking, because it is still frequently applied.
3. VAT for companies and individuals resident outside the UK.

We do not accept secret commissions which are commonplace in some professions. A secret commission is a payment where someone works for you and accepts a “kickback” from someone that they refer work, such as a subcontractor. We do not accept them if offered unless and until they are fully disclosed to our clients, and in these cases, they are paid over for the benefit of to our clients.

Charging appropriate Rates

We have a range of charging levels depending on the person who is dealing with your work. Charging levels vary for different levels of skilled staff. The rates we assign to each of our staff depend on the level of experience and efficiency with which they have in respect to the tasks that need to be performed for you.

We also allocate work to an appropriately skilled person to perform. For instance, rarely do our partners attend court to file documents (they do when complexities arise or it is urgent) or preparation of court bundles. These are tasks more readily performed by our junior staff, such as our junior solicitors, trainee solicitors, skilled paralegals and secretaries at correspondingly lower rates.

The different fee rates charged are set out on our fee notes by task, so it is crystal clear what is charged for by specific task.

In Closing

We encourage our clients to review our terms of business carefully and raise any doubts about the meaning of the terms set out in it. We find that this rarely happens, as our terms of business are in plain, understandable English.

There is no long term benefit to either you or us if at the end of our retainer you are left dissatisfied because of the costs. It is in both the solicitor's interest and yours that solicitors' charges are fair, reasonable and comprehensible.

London Business Solicitors & Lawyers

Our Solicitors in London assist businesses in the UK and internationally to create options, achieve realistic and attainable goals, and providing guidance to assist decision-making in a commercial context.

For more information, legal advice or to find out more about the legal services we provide, call 020 7353 1770 or contact us online.