SRA Transparency

THE TEAM:

• Martin Cray: Partner & Solicitor Advocate of the Senior Courts, Rights of Audience in all Courts.
• James Yates: Partner & Solicitor Advocate of the Senior Courts.
• Tamara Coleman: Solicitor
• Matt Bishop: Solicitor
• Donna Robinson: Fellow of the Institute of Paralegals specialising in family law.
• Thomas Southgate: Trainee Solicitor,
• Beth Quick: Trainee Solicitor.
• Charlotte Cray: Called to the Bar but not practicing as a Barrister.

Working as a team provides considerable cost savings to you because it allows us to decide on the appropriate member of the firm for each aspect of the case. Of course, you can also specify a particular member of the team if you wish, provided they have the appropriate expertise. As you see from the fees, straightforward tasks can be conducted by less senior members of the team at a considerably lower cost.

FEES

Fees charged will be calculated mainly by reference to the time spent by the member of the team dealing with this matter. This includes advocacy, preparation, advising, attending to you and others, dealing with papers, correspondence, telephone calls, travelling and waiting time.

The charge rates are as follows: - Martin Cray, solicitor with over 40 years of experience, charges £450.00 per hour plus VAT and disbursements. In addition, correspondence is charged at £45.00 plus VAT per letter and email.

James Yates’ charges are £350.00 per hour plus VAT and disbursements and £35.00 plus VAT per letter and email.

Tamara Abrahams’ charges are £300.00 per hour plus VAT and disbursements and £30.00 per letter and email.

Matt Bishop’s charges are £250.00 per hour plus VAT and disbursements and £25.00 per letter and email.

Donna Robinson’s charges are £250.00 per hour plus VAT and disbursements and £25.00 per letter and email.

Trainee solicitors’ charges are £210.00 plus VAT and disbursements and £21.00 plus VAT per letter and email. If other fee earners and support staff are required to work on the case, their rates, where charged, exclusive of VAT and disbursements, will be £210 + VAT

 

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SRA RULES:

As a bespoke law firm, we only offer fixed fees on certain divorce proceedings. It can therefore be difficult to pinpoint exactly how much each individual case will cost. However, due to wide-ranging experience in a variety of legal issues, we do have some average fee guidance on certain matters. For example;

Motoring Offences - guilty plea

Fee range £900 - £1200 plus VAT charged at 20% (£1080 – £1440 including VAT) plus disbursements.

This 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

If there are less papers to consider, and the hearing is local, the fee is likely to be at the lower end of the estimate. If, however, the papers to consider are more substantial, including multiple witness statements or video evidence to consider, the fee is likely to be on the higher end of the estimate.

The fee does not include:

• instruction of any expert witnesses
• reviewing expert witness reports and advising in respect of these
• taking statements from any witnesses
• advice and assistance in relation to a special reasons hearing
• advice or assistance in relation to any appeal

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as expert fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. These fees may increase or decrease depending on the facts of the matter and you will be notified of the specific fee if you instruct us, and once we have the relevant information.

• Expert fees ranging from £1000 to £2500 plus VAT at 20% depending on the level and area of expertise.
• Travel costs for any persons required to attend the hearing. This could be from £5 upwards depending on the length of time they are required at the Court, and the travel involved. You would be notified of this cost specifically prior to it being incurred.
• In the event an in-house advocate is unable to attend a hearing, or you elect for separate counsel to represent you at the hearing, Counsel fees would be incurred ranging from £750 + VAT to £1000 + VAT depending on seniority, the length of time they are required to attend court, and the location of the hearing.

Key Stages

The key stages of your matter are based on the presumption that you have been charged, will enter a guilty plea and have a date for your hearing. In the event either of these are not the case, the fee is not likely to fall within the above range and you will be provided with an updated estimate.

The process

• 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 £3000 + VAT at 20% per statement, depending on the detail required for the statement).
• 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 varies from court to court, particularly with the current backlogs.
• We will attend court on the day and meet with you before going before the court. We anticipate being at court for around 2 hours. This however can fluctuate depending on court delays and if the court requires any further information which needs to be obtained.
• We will discuss the outcome with you.
• If advice is required on appeal, this will carry an additional cost of which you will be advised on.

 

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Employment Law

Bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal

If the case is issued:

• Simple case: £7,000-£10,000 (excluding VAT, charged at 20%)
• Medium complexity case: £10,000-£15,000 (excluding VAT, charged at 20%)
• High complexity case: £15,000-£30,000 (excluding VAT, charged at 20%)

We charge based on an hourly rate which varies depending on the member of staff dealing with your matter. Our lowest hourly rate is £210 + VAT at 20% (for trainee solicitor) and our highest hourly rate is £450 + VAT at 20%. The seniority of the members of staff dealing with your case will depend on its complexity. We will discuss this with you when you instruct us.

The above range is a guidance on your case and at your first meeting, we will discuss with you any aspects of your case which are complex and could involve more work. In the event your case settles earlier than the final hearing, or early into the proceedings, the cost will be less than set out above.

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
• Making or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
• Additional applications which are required within the existing proceedings
• If experts are involved within the case.

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of approximately £2000 per day (excluding VAT, charged at 20%) with this estimate depending on the seniority of the fee earner attending. Generally, we would allow 1-5 days depending on the complexity of your case.

Further additional costs could be if any further mediation or negotiation takes place within a case, the fee earner’s work and disbursements will be incurred.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. These fees may increase or decrease depending on the facts of the matter and you will be notified of the specific fee if you instruct us, and once we have the relevant information.

• Counsel's fees estimated between £1500 to £5000 per day excluding VAT, charged at 20% (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).
• Expert fees ranging from £1000 to £2500 plus VAT at 20% depending on the level and area of expertise.
• Travel costs for any persons attending the Tribunal this could be from £5 upwards depending on the length of time they are required at the Tribunal, and the travel involved. You would be notified of this cost specifically prior to it being incurred.
• Mediators’ fees if parties engage in negotiation. This could range from £1500 to £4000 plus VAT at 20% depending on the length of time the mediation is scheduled for, the experience of the mediator and the paperwork required for them to consider in advance of the mediation.

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
• Preparing bundle of documents
• Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. However, if any complexities arise within any aspect of the above, the fee may increase, and this will be discussed with you. It may be that at stages throughout the claim Counsel advice is sought as to merit or next steps and this will be an additional cost. This again will be discussed in further detail with you as the case progresses.

You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved and the delays with the Tribunal. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 6-18 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 40-65 weeks. This is just an estimate, and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

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Debt Recovery

These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed, and enforcement action is not needed.

If your case becomes disputed, or enforcement action is needed your solicitor will advise you as to the likely cost of the proceedings which will be incurred on an hourly rate basis depending on who is conducting the work.

Our fees are broken down into stages:

1. Pre-action
2. Issuing Proceedings
3. Court Litigation

Dependent on which stage your case settles at, depends on fees.

For a pre-action case, our fee includes:

• Meeting with you and reviewing any documentation supporting your claim
• Making enquiries regarding the debtor
• Sending a letter before action
• Reviewing any correspondence from the debtor
• Advising you as to next steps in light of the response from the debtor and if any further pre-action correspondence is suitable or necessary or if proceedings should be issued.

To issue proceedings, our fee includes:

• The above as per the pre-action case
• Meeting with you and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of issuing relative to your case.
• Drafting the pleadings required to submit the claim.
• Liaising with the court regarding your application.

To progress through court litigation, our fee includes:

• The above as per the pre-action case and issuing proceedings
• Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default
• Preparing any supporting documentation for your case such as the court bundle.
• Instructing our in-house solicitor advocates to represent you at the Default Judgment hearing or instructing external counsel should you prefer or our in-house solicitor be unavailable.
• When Judgement in default in received, write to the other side to request payment.
• If payment is received, provide this to you.
• If payment is not received within X days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs for enforcement.

Our Fees:

For a pre-action case, our fee ranges from £900 + VAT (charged at 20%) to £1750 + VAT (charged at 20%) depending on the complexity of the case and the level of detail required for the letter before action and the likely correspondence received back from the debtor.

At this stage, there are unlikely to be any disbursements (which are costs payable to a third party) save Land Registry fees at £3 per copy if we are downloading property registers.

To issue proceedings, the cost is likely to be, in addition to the above pre-action fee, £2000 + VAT and disbursements.

Disbursements for issuing proceedings could be counsel fees estimated to be between £1000 + VAT (charged at 20%) and £1500 + VAT (charged at 20%) depending on seniority of counsel and the complexity of the pleadings if it is advisable that they draft pleadings to your case due to complexities, and the court fee to issue.

If Counsel are instructed to draft the pleadings, the above estimate for our fees is likely to decrease due to us not drafting the pleadings.

The court fee depends on the value of your claim as per the table below:

• Up to £300: £35
• Greater than £300 but no more than £500: £50
• Greater than £500 but no more than £1,000: £70
• Greater than £1,000 but no more than £1,500: £80
• Greater than £1,500 but no more than £3,000: £115
• Greater than £3,000 but no more than £5,000: £205
• Greater than £5,000 but no more than £10,000: £455
• Greater than £10,000 but no more than £200,000: 5% of the value of the claim
• Greater than £200,000: £10, 000

For Court Litigation, the cost is likely to be between £2000 + VAT (charged at 20%) and disbursements and £3000 + VAT (charged at 20%) and disbursements.

Disbursements at this stage could include Counsel fees to attend the Default Judgement hearing which could vary between £500 + VAT (charged at 20%) and £1500 + VAT (charged at 20%) dependent on the seniority of the barrister and location of the hearing. Alternatively, our in-house advocate could represent you at the hearing.

Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:

• The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
• Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost.
• The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
• In the event you are unsuccessful in your claim, you could be required to pay the other parties’ costs – this would be discussed with you in more detail when advising in relation to stage 2 – issuing proceedings.

Matters usually take 6-40 weeks from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. In the event proceedings are settled at the pre-action stage, the time estimate is likely to be around 6 weeks. In the event that pre-action correspondence goes back and forth, this will increase the time frame and is dependent on how quickly the other side respond.

In the event proceedings are issued, the time estimate depends on the turnaround time for the court and how soon we can get a hearing for a Default Judgement.

This estimate is also on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in Default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve and falls outside of this fee and time estimate.

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NON-CONTENTIOUS AND UNCONTESTED PROBATE

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

We anticipate this will take between 18 and 23 hours work at £275 per hour plus VAT at 20%. Total costs estimated between £4950 - £63250 + VAT at 20% plus disbursements.

The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter which will be discussed with you in more detail at the initial meeting. The initial meeting is chargeable at the fee earner’s hourly rate.

We will handle the full process for you. We appreciate this a very emotional time for you and we wish to do all we can to support you and ensure you do not need to worry about administration of an estate in this difficult time. We have extensive experience dealing with a variety of estates from the simplest estate to more complex estates involving overseas assets, beneficiaries and disputes. 

We estimate that the administration of a simple estate shall be around £4950 + VAT at 20% and disbursements where:

• There is a valid will
• There is no more than one property which is being transferred to a beneficiary
• The property is not required to be cleared of items.
• There are no items of value.
• There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts and no investment accounts.
• There are no other intangible assets
• There are 1-4 beneficiaries
• There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs.
• There is no inheritance tax payable, and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC.
• There are no claims made against the estate.
• No other tax is payable by the estate which requires extensive communications and the executors do not need to submit accounts to HMRC in respect of this tax.

Disbursements likely to be incurred in addition to this fee are (where applicable VAT is included at 20%):

• Probate application fee of £300 (if the estate is over £5000).
• Additional grants at £3 each.
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary)
• £110.64 Post in The London Gazette – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.
• £111.96 Post in a Local Newspaper (this varies dependent on the size of the post and the newspaper itself) – This also helps to protect against unexpected claims.
• £7 per Land Registry Office Copies Fee.
• £20-£500 Land Registry Application Fee for Transfer of Property (fee depends on value of property).
• £30 CHAPS fee for high value estate distribution payments.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. However, these disbursements are subject to increases by the third parties and you will be notified of any increases.

Potential additional costs

If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.

The cost of administering the estate may vary dependent on a variety of factors such as (but not limited to):

• If there is property within the estate required to be sold or cleared of items.
• If there are any investments, such as stocks and shares or bonds, within in the estate (whereby transfer or sales of these is necessary)
• Whether there are likely to be creditors of the estate such as outstanding credit cards, mortgages, loans and utility bills.
• If there are overseas beneficiaries.
• If there are multiple beneficiaries involved.
• If there are multiple bank accounts
• If assistance is required planning and organising a funeral and /or wake.
• If there are overseas assets or liabilities relating to the estate.
• Liaising with charities as to any gifts they may receive from the estate.
• If any tax is payable on the estate i.e. inheritance tax or income tax or capital gains tax.
• If any specialist advice is required relating to the estate.
• If trusts are involved in the estate.
• If any executors wish to renounce or are unable to take up the role as executor.

How long will probate take?

On average, estates that fall within the simple administration process are dealt with within 9-12 months. Prior to obtaining the grant, information must be gathered as to the assets and liabilities of the estate which can take between 4-16 weeks. This time frame depends on the speed of third parties returning correspondence and providing the required information.

In the event Inheritance Tax is due on the estate, the next stage will be to complete the full accounts to send to HMRC and pay any Inheritance Tax due. This can be paid for upfront with monies held in bank accounts or can be placed on a payment plan for example if the sale of a property is required to pay the Inheritance Tax due. Once submitting the accounts to HMRC, we must wait at least 20 working days before applying for probate.

The next stage is obtaining the grant of probate. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate, if applied for online (the solicitor will advise you as to whether your probate can be applied for online) takes 4-6 weeks. However, this depends on the probate registry’s case load – it could be quicker or could be longer.

In the event that the probate application must be made by paper form, this is likely to take upwards of 16 weeks due to substantial delays with the probate registry. This could extend the time in which the process takes.

Once the grant has been obtained, collecting assets and paying liabilities then follows, which can take between 12-18 weeks, depending on the speed of third parties and the documentation that is required to settle accounts and receive the assets. During this time, a post is made in the London Gazette which provides creditors 2 months and 1 day to make a claim against the estate (there are some exceptions to this time frame). Once the above has been actioned, we can distribute the assets, which normally takes 1-3 weeks.