Our Fees in Criminal Matters
If you are charged with a criminal offence and you are not entitled to Legal Aid or your case does not qualify for Legal Aid, for example in some motoring offences, public order offences and summary only cases, in those circumstances if you would like us to represent you then we can do this on the following basis:
Magistrates Court cases only
Our fees for dealing with summary only cases will vary depending on whether the plea is Guilty or Not Guilty and the number of court hearings involved. What we do:
- Considering the evidence;
- Taking your intructions;
- Advising you on the strengths and weaknesses of the case against you;
- Providing you with advice in relation to your plea and the likely sentence; and
- Representation at court.
Depending on your matter, we offer either a fixed fee and an hourly rate service.
An example of our fixed fee charge for summary only cases is detailed below.
Fixed Fee — Representation at your First Appearance by a solicitor – one hearing only £750.00 plus VAT
This fee includes:
- Considering evidence;
- 1 hour appointment to take instructions and providing you with advice;
- Representation at a single hearing at the Magistrates Court; and
- Letter confirming the outcome of your case and advice on the next steps.
Where the Court is more than 30 miles (round trip) away from our office: our fees are £750.00 plus VAT, plus £100.00 per hour (exclusive of travel disbursements).
If a barrister is instructed to attend your first appearance then the fee is £900.00 plus VAT.
If your case does not conclude at the first appearance, we will advise you of any additional costs.
Hourly rate service
We undertake all work not included in the fixed fee on an hourly rate basis. Please note that these rates are exclusive of VAT. Our hourly rates are as follows:
- £250.00 per hour for a solicitor of more than 8 years qualification;
- £200.00 per hour for a solicitor of more than 4 years qualification;
- £150.00 per hour for all other solicitors;
- £100.00 per hour for paralegals and trainee solicitors.
Additional costs
We can provide advice and assistance in the following areas on an hourly rate basis. An estimate can be provided in writing, depending on the circumstances of the individual case:
- Instructing expert witnesses;
- Taking statements from witnesses;
- Advice and assistance on appeal;
- Representation at additional court hearings including trials, sentencing and special reasons hearings; and
- Representation at a court outside of the greater London area.
Trial and special reasons hearings – Magistrates’ Court only
If you have a trial or special reason hearing, we may be able to offer you a fixed fee service. The fixed fee would range from £1,500.00 - £3,000.00 plus VAT (This does not include the first appearance) This fee would include:
- Going through the evidence
- meeting with us to take your instructions
- Taking statements from witnesses
- Representation at one Magistrates Court hearing
- Routine letters, telephone calls, emails
- Going through supporting documents
Timescales
Each matter will have a different timescale, which we will advise you of at the beginning of your case. We will make every effort to keep you up to date on any issues affecting the same.
Exclusions
Where your fixed fee case requires work outside the scope of the fixed fee agreement and there is likely to be an additional cost, we will ensure that you are notified as soon as possible of the additional estimated cost.
