Private Fees
Crime & Road Traffic Offences:
If you are not eligible for legal aid, we will either agree a fixed fee with you or provide an estimate of our fees based on our usual hourly rate, dependant on many factors including the type of offence and complexity.
Legal aid is rarely available for less serious driving/motoring offences which can only be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court and are known as summary offences.
Examples of common summary offences include: drink/drug driving, driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance or a licence and speeding. We can advise you whether an offence you are charged with is a summary offence or not and we have set out below our costs for dealing with these types of matters.
Initial telephone or email contact with us is free of charge. We will not be able to give you specific advice over the phone however other than to confirm whether we are able to assist, and in brief the general procedure.
Our fixed fees (exclusive of VAT*) for summary driving offences are as follows:
1 hour conference at office (face to face): £150.00 – to include consideration of the charge(s) and evidence available at that stage, taking your instructions and advising on plea, procedure, and sentence. Any additional work such as for example making written representations to the prosecution or considering further evidence will attract an additional fee for which we will quote separately.
Representing you at court at your first hearing (for plea): £650.00 – to include consideration of the charge(s) and evidence disclosed at this stage, taking your instructions and advising on plea, procedure and sentence and representing you during the hearing (known as advocacy). If sentencing of your case has to be adjourned to another day then we will need to charge you an additional fee of: £400.00
Representing you at court for trial: £2,500.00 - £4,500.00 or special reasons or exceptional hardship hearing: £675.00 to £1,000.00 (depending on nature of hearing and issues involved) – to include preparing your case for the hearing, instructing experts and taking witness statements at our offices (out of office appointments may attract additional costs) and advising on appeal (but not preparing the case for appeal, lodging the appeal, or representing you at the appeal hearing for which we will quote separately).
Please note that fixed fees may be negotiable depending on the issues of the case and will be assessed on a case by case basis.
*VAT will be charged at 20%
Legal aid is rarely available for less serious driving/motoring offences which can only be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court and are known as summary offences.
Examples of common summary offences include: drink/drug driving, driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance or a licence and speeding. We can advise you whether an offence you are charged with is a summary offence or not and we have set out below our costs for dealing with these types of matters.
Initial telephone or email contact with us is free of charge. We will not be able to give you specific advice over the phone however other than to confirm whether we are able to assist, and in brief the general procedure.
Our fixed fees (exclusive of VAT*) for summary driving offences are as follows:
1 hour conference at office (face to face): £150.00 – to include consideration of the charge(s) and evidence available at that stage, taking your instructions and advising on plea, procedure, and sentence. Any additional work such as for example making written representations to the prosecution or considering further evidence will attract an additional fee for which we will quote separately.
Representing you at court at your first hearing (for plea): £650.00 – to include consideration of the charge(s) and evidence disclosed at this stage, taking your instructions and advising on plea, procedure and sentence and representing you during the hearing (known as advocacy). If sentencing of your case has to be adjourned to another day then we will need to charge you an additional fee of: £400.00
Representing you at court for trial: £2,500.00 - £4,500.00 or special reasons or exceptional hardship hearing: £675.00 to £1,000.00 (depending on nature of hearing and issues involved) – to include preparing your case for the hearing, instructing experts and taking witness statements at our offices (out of office appointments may attract additional costs) and advising on appeal (but not preparing the case for appeal, lodging the appeal, or representing you at the appeal hearing for which we will quote separately).
Please note that fixed fees may be negotiable depending on the issues of the case and will be assessed on a case by case basis.
*VAT will be charged at 20%