Legal aid – what to expect
We will take you through the application process and help you collate the information and material the Legal Aid Agency need .
Police Station
At the police station, representation is not means tested and therefore free. Where we act under the terms of our legal aid contract’
Our legal aid retainer extends to the police station attendance only. While we will keep in touch as to bail and court dates, any substantive work outside the police station has to be the subject of separate funding.
You cannot assume the police have kept us informed and we will not automatically attend bail returns to the police station or court, unless specifically arranged with you.
If you want to specify a particular representative to deal with your case , you may have to pay privately , although we will always try to facilitate such requests under public funding.
Magistrates Court
Crown Court
Private fees
Not the cheapest, not the most expensive, but possibly the best…..
Because no two cases are the same, it is difficult to adopt a one-size fits all approach. Some cases are substantially more complex and weighty than others and will always be more expensive. That said, typical fixed fees are below.
Magistrates Court
Single appearance straightforward guilty plea concluded at a single hearing:
£750 plus vat and expenses
Short magistrates court trial [one day or less]:
£1500 plus vat and expenses
Preparatory/case management/interim hearings:
£500 plus vat and expenses on a single listing
£250 plus vat if we have another matter in court for the same session
Crown Court
For our own crown court advocate at a single sentencing :
£1500 plus vat and expenses
Routine crown court hearings:
£500 plus vat and expenses
Many cases will involve approved barristers either where we do not have an advocate available or, more importantly , where we feel that the best interests of the client are served by having an external independent specialist advocate. Because of our longstanding relationships with counsel of the highest competence, we are able to negotiate extremely competitive fees, which can be agreed on a case by case basis.
Counsel’s fees will generally break down into a fixed fee per conference, fixed fee for any interim hearings and a brief fee for trial based on the anticipated length, with an agreed ‘refresher’ fee per additional day if the trial goes over the original estimate
If we have not agreed a fixed fee, charges for a senior solicitor are £275 per hour and for a senior non-solicitor lawyer £175 per hour, both plus vat.
We will give you an estimate and update this if circumstances change.
Boutique services
Some cases are particularly sensitive , some cases are particularly important. If you are fortunate enough to have the means, we provide a tailored service including representation from some of the finest barristers in the country.
This service includes:
– a named senior lawyer at any police station attendance
– consultation with one of our lawyers within 24 hours of your first contact
– consultation with leading counsel within 48 hours
– out of hours contact available at all times
This is a very personalised service which we arrange on a case by case basis.
Have we failed to meet your expectations ?
We want to give you the best possible service. If at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided, then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns. If these cannot be allayed and you wish to make a formal complaint, then you can implement our full complaints process. Your making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
The Solicitors Regulatory Authority[link]can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
The office of the Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first.
The time limits for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman are no later than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.