At A&H Law Solicitors, we pride ourselves on providing a high level of service at an extremely competitive cost. We also take pride in providing clear and realistic cost estimates. We provide an estimate at the outset of any matter and on request. While the cost of court action can be difficult to estimate, our longstanding experience enables us to provide you with an accurate and realistic cost estimate. We are always happy to discuss your matter and agree to an amount we will not exceed without your written agreement.
We offer a professional service with very reasonable fees and where possible flexible payment terms for all our clients. Our agreed fee charges are as follow:
One off advice fee:
Service: Considering documents attending on the client taking your instructions and providing advice and follow up advice confirmation. –
One-off Advice
(£250 + VAT*) +/- £100
Fixed Fee
On some matters we have fixed fee options available. During the legal consultation Session, we will assess your situation and provide you with a fixed fee to assist with your case. This gives you a level of cost certainty to get you to a particular resolution. For some areas we can do this in stages of your case which gives you even more flexibility. For example, a general civil litigation matter proceedings in stages. The first stage is pre-action, wherein following an initial consultation, we will draft a letter before action to the Defendant pertaining to the matter. Depending on the complexity, the fees can be from £1,000 to £5,000. The higher fee will apply to high complexity cases.
The fees are likely to include:
⦁ Taking your initial instructions, and instructions throughout, reviewing documentation and providing ongoing advice;
⦁ Undertaking any appropriate searches;
⦁ Sending a letter before action;
⦁ Corresponding, where appropriate, with the other party;
⦁ Receiving payment and sending it on to you.
In matter more complex matters:
⦁ A large volume of documentation/paperwork to review;
⦁ Multiple parties;
⦁ Dealing with a litigant in person/unrepresented party;
⦁ If the debt is disputed/contested;
⦁ If the other party indicates a Counterclaim.
A simple example would be where money is owed to a client, and the value does not exceed £10,000. In such cases cost would be in the region of £3,000 plus Vat and disbursements. Disbursements would be searches, investigations into the Defendants assets (If required). These can be in the region of £300-£400. Therefore, a total bill would be in the region of £4,000 (inclusive of Vat and Disbursements). Note this can vary depending on the complexity of the mater as above.
The next stage is when Proceeding is to be issued/or being defended.
Depending on the complexity of the matter, cost of these can be £2,000 to £60,000 plus Vat and disbursements. The higher complex matter would depend on value of the claim and the complexity surrounding the matter.
The above fees are likely to include:
⦁ Continuing to take your instructions and further review of the documentation/paperwork and advising on merits and prospect of success.
⦁ Corresponding throughout with the other party and any other relevant parties.
⦁ Preparing Claim Form and Particulars of Claim, or Defence, where appropriate.
⦁ Instructing and liaising with Counsel throughout, where appropriate.
⦁ Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default.
⦁ When Judgement in default in received, write to the other side to request payment.
⦁ Reviewing, and advising on the other party’s response.
⦁ Preparing Cost budgets
⦁ Attending Cost and Case Management Conference at court.
⦁ Exploring/negotiating settlement throughout the matter.
⦁ Preparing for/attending mediation, where appropriate.
⦁ Preparing for, and attending and preliminary hearings and final hearing.
⦁ Taking witness statements, drafting statements, and agreeing their contents with witnesses.
⦁ Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.
⦁ Preparing the document bundles and agreeing on them with the other party.
Factors that could make the matter more complex:
⦁ Numerous or complicated issues.
⦁ A large number of witnesses.
⦁ The claim is defended.
⦁ Whether the claim is settled early.
⦁ Whether an Alternative Dispute Resolution method is tried before the case goes to Court.
⦁ Making or defending an unforeseen application.
⦁ Experts’ Conferences
⦁ Counsel Conferences
Possible Disbursements are likely to be as follows:
⦁ Court Fee for the issue of the Claim
| Claim value | Type | Amount | Court fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £300 | Fixed | £35 | |
| £300 – £500 | Fixed | £50 | |
| £500 – £1,000 | Fixed | £70 | |
| £1,000 – £1,500 | Fixed | £80 | |
| £1,500 – £3,000 | Fixed | £115 | |
| £3,000 – £5,000 | Fixed | £205 | |
| £5,000 – £10,000 | Fixed | £455 | |
| £10,000 – £100,000 | 5% of claim | 5% | |
| Over £200,000 | Capped | £10,000 |
Issuing a possession claim: £391
*The above fees are subject to change.
⦁ Hearing Fee – payable close to the time of a final trial
⦁
⦁ Small claims track for claims between £1,500.01 and £3,000 £181
⦁ Small claims track for claims more than £3,000 £346
⦁ Fast Track Claim – £545
⦁ Intermediate track or Multi-Track Claim – £1,175
The Final stage is when you win at trial and the losing party fails to comply with the court order. This is the Enforcement stage. Failing to comply with the court order could be that the losing party is not willing to pay the funds and costs awarded to you at trial by the judge.
Depending on the complexity of the matter, cost of these can be £2,000 to £5,000 plus Vat and disbursements.
The fee of £2,000 to £5,000 are likely to include:
⦁ If payment is not received from the other party, advising on appropriate action and taking your instructions.
⦁ Making further enquires or searches.
⦁ Making any appropriate applications.
⦁ Communicating with the other party and any relevant third party.
⦁ Negotiating repayment proposals, where appropriate.
Factors that could make the matter more complex:
⦁ As above.
⦁ Numerous or complicated issues.
⦁ Whether the other party is deliberately trying to avoid settling the debt.
⦁ Length of time to resolve.
The following are possible disbursement that one may incur at the enforcement stage.
⦁ The fee to instruct the County Court bailiff or a High Court Enforcement Officer
| Judgment & Enforcement in England and Wales Action | Judgment Amount | Enforcement Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Bailiff | Up to £5,000 | £77/£100 |
| HCEO | £600+ | £66 |
*The above fees are subject to change.
⦁ Tracing agent (typically between £100 and £1,000 plus VAT).
⦁ Forensic Accountant (Typically between £750 and £5,000).
⦁ Transferring the matter to the High Court (as above).
The stages set out above are only an indication of what may be required and if some of the stages above are not necessary, the fee will be reflected accordingly.
Please also note, where you have succeeded at trial, you will be able to recover not all but some cost from the losing party. An example would be where you have succeeded at trial and you have incurred cost and disbursements in the region of £15,000, the court may order the losing party to pay £10,000. The remining £5,000 will still be borne by you.
Agreed Hourly Rate
This is the traditional fee structure which means that we will assess your case and provide a fully flexible option on an hour-by-hour basis. You will be given information about the likely overall cost of your matter, and you will be updated as to these costs.
For information purposes, for a Solicitors with over three years post qualification experience including at least eight years litigation experience, hourly rate is £282.00 other solicitors and legal executives and fee earners of over four-year experience hourly rate £242.00. Trainee solicitors, Paralegal’s and other fee earners, hourly rate £177.00 Routine letters and telephone calls will be charged at a 1/10 of an hour.
Complaints
Here at A&H Law Solicitors, we aim to provide the best possible service to all our clients, so if you have any concerns, please contact the individual managing your matter as soon as these arise so that they can be addressed promptly. If this does not address the issue to your satisfaction, you can raise a formal complaint, by contacting our complaints Officer:
⦁ Telephone on: 0121 693 5382
⦁ Letter: A&H Law Solicitors, Kings Court, 17 School Road, Hall Green Birmingham,
B28 8JG
⦁ Email: ⦁ ah@a-hlaw.co.uk
To help us understand your complaint and to ensure we do not miss any relevant information please provide your full name and contact details, and information about what you think has gone wrong and when this occurred.
All complaints will be acknowledged by email within four working days, so that you have confirmation that your complaint is being investigated.
We will then investigate your complaint, which will involve reviewing the file and speaking to relevant members of staff. We may need further information from you and will contact you if this is necessary. If appropriate we may invite you to a meeting to discuss the complaint. You would not be required to attend if you do not wish to, and we would be happy to discuss the matter with you on the telephone if you prefer.
At the end of our investigation, we will provide you with a written response detailing our findings and outlining what action we propose to take. We aim to do this within 28 days of receiving your complaint but will advise you in advance if this period needs to be extended.
Upon receipt of our letter detailing the outcome of our investigation and our proposed action, we would ask that within 14 days you contact us to either inform us:
⦁ That you are satisfied with the action that has been taken and that we can therefore close the complaint, or
⦁ That you are dissatisfied with what is proposed.
Where you are dissatisfied with the outcome of our investigation, we will carry out a further review of the complaint and consider any new information, if there is any. We will aim to do this within 14 days and then provide you with a final written response to your complaint detailing the findings and proposed action.
If your complaint relates to the service we have provided and you are still not satisfied with the outcome in our final written response to you or we have not provided a final written response to your complaint within 8 weeks of receiving it, then you may be able to have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints relating to poor service, but before accepting a complaint for investigation the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, and you are not satisfied with the outcome, then you can take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
⦁ Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
⦁ No more than one year from the date of the act / omission that gave rise to the complaint; or
⦁ No more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted by:
⦁ Telephone: 0300 555 0333 (Available between 10am and 4pm)
⦁ Relay UK: 18001 0300 555 0333
⦁ Email on ⦁ enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
⦁ Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.
More information on the referral of complaints to the Legal Ombudsman can be found on their website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
As the firm is authorised by the CILEX, if your complaint relates to the misconduct of a CILEX Approved Manager, CILEX member or CILEX Practitioner, you can refer your complaint free of charge to CILEx Regulation for them to investigate. Misconduct is defined as any breach of the CILEX Code of Conduct: A copy of the CILEX Code of Conduct can be found on the CILEx Regulation website: www.cilexregulation.org.uk. Misconduct complaints must be made within 12 months of the act or omission that gave rise to the complaint or within 12 months of the complainant having knowledge of the act or omission that gave rise to the complaint, whichever is the greater. CILEx Regulation can be contacted by:
⦁ Telephone: 01234 845770
⦁ Email on info@cilexregulation.org.uk
⦁ Website: ⦁ https://cilexregulation.org.uk
⦁ Post: Room 301, Endeavour House, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedfordshire, MK45 4HS.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bodies such as ProMediate of Brow Farm, Top Road, Frodsham WA6 6SP, www.prometiate.co.uk exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. Currently we do not agree to using an ADR scheme as we believe our own inhouse investigation supported where necessary by that provided by the Legal Ombudsman and CILEx Regulation is sufficient.
Please see the Firms Complaints Handling Procedure.
Please see Legal Ombudsman decision data website page: Ombudsman decision data | Legal Ombudsman.
