Our fees

Legal Aid

We will act for you under the Legal Aid Scheme whenever that is available to you.

Everyone is entitled to free Legal Aid when they are interviewed as a suspect at a police station, or anywhere else by the police.

Legal Aid is also available if your case is sent to the Crown Court for trial, although you may have to pay something towards that depending on your financial circumstances. However, Legal Aid is not available to limited companies or individuals with a net disposable household income of more than £37,500 per year.

For Magistrates’ Court proceedings you are entitled to Legal Aid if you qualify financially and the charge you face justifies it, which can include imprisonable or technically complicated motoring offences.

We will give you free advice about the likely availability of Legal Aid.

Fixed fees

Where you do not qualify for Legal Aid, we will act for you on a fixed-fee basis for all the work we undertake in the Magistrates’ and/or Crown Court. Many household and motor insurance policies also include cover for legal costs, so it is always worth checking the policy wording of your insurances to find out if this is an option.

Our fees for dealing with all the necessary work in the Magistrates’ Court are:

1. 1. £50.00 plus VAT to provide initial telephone advice on motoring prosecutions, which includes viewing the Notice of intended Prosecution or Requisition received from the court and discussing them with you.
   2. £200 plus VAT to consider the prosecution paperwork, which includes the requisition and Prosecution Witness Statements, taking your instructions on the evidence and providing our advice on the strength of the prosecution you face and the likely sentence if you are convicted. This fee will be credited back to you if you then instruct us to deal with the proceedings on a private fee basis.
   3. £400 plus VAT for attending an interview under caution by an agency other than the police. This includes obtaining the disclosure from the prosecting agency on the day of the interview; obtaining your instructions; advising on the evidence and the interview process, including advising you on your options in interview; and attending and representing you in the interview.
   4. £750 plus VAT for a guilty-plea hearing, which includes considering the Prosecution evidence; taking your instructions; advising on likely sentence; attending court with you for one hearing; putting forward mitigation at the hearing; confirming the sentence in writing; and our advice on appeal. It does not include lodging an appeal against any sentence or any disbursement/Witness fees.
      If a guilty plea case is not finalised at one hearing, then the £750 plus VAT fixed fee is increased by £250 plus VAT by each additional hearing we attend.
   5. £1,000 plus VAT for a guilty plea to an endorsable motoring offence such as speeding, no insurance, or careless driving, where an exceptional hardship argument is to be raised to try to avoid or reduce a period of disqualification. This includes considering the prosecution evidence; taking your instructions on hardship; considering your evidence on hardship; preparing you for the court process and the possibility of giving evidence; and attending and representing at a single hearing at the Magistrates’ Court. It does not include lodging an appeal against any sentence or any expert witness expenses.
   6. £2,250 plus VAT for a matter where a not-guilty plea is entered that is listed for trial, or for a special-reasons hearing on a motoring offence to try to avoid a disqualification or endorsement, or an appeal to the Crown Court against conviction. This includes considering the prosecution papers; taking your instructions; preparing your defence/special reasons for trial; taking relevant witness statements; attending court with you; dealing with the questioning of the witnesses; and assisting you with giving evidence and presenting your case to the court. To include the sentencing hearing if relevant.
      Where a matter is listed for a trial, or any contested hearing, to last more than one day, or where the trial or hearing actually lasts more than one day, the £2,250 plus VAT fixed fee is increased by £1,000 plus VAT for each additional day.
   7. £500 plus VAT to deal with the Magistrates’ Court proceedings in a case that is sent for trial to the Crown Court. This includes considering the prosecution evidence; taking your instructions; and attending and representing you at court.
   8. £1,000 plus VAT for any other case, including committals to the Crown Court for sentence and appeals against sentence to the Crown Court.
   9. Where a matter is listed for a trial, or any contested hearing, to last more than one day, or where the trial or hearing actually lasts more than one day, the £2,250 plus VAT fixed fee is increased by £1,000 plus VAT for each additional day.
   10. If a guilty plea case is not finalised at one hearing then the £750 plus VAT fixed fee is increased by £250 plus VAT by each additional hearing we attend.

VAT will apply in all circumstances, irrespective of the amount of work we do. The current standard rate of VAT is 20%.

Any expenses incurred, such as experts’ reports or travel costs from our office to court or to site visits, including any applicable VAT, will be added to our bill. We will ask you to authorise and pay in advance for any expenses totalling more than £100 plus VAT before we incur them.

The sum of £750 plus VAT, or the fixed fee if less, is payable towards our fees before the first court hearing or within seven days of our request for it, if later. The balance of the fixed fee due to us is payable in full 28 days before the listed trial date or within seven days of the matter’s conclusion, if earlier.

If you are acquitted or the prosecution decides not to proceed further, we will apply to the Court for a Defendants’ Costs Order. This is an order providing for a contribution towards this firm’s final bill to be made from Central Funds. That contribution will be based on Legal Aid rates only and so it is important to appreciate that this is unlikely to cover more than a quarter of our fees and you will still have to pay the rest. Limited companies are not entitled to a Defendants’ Cost Order and so would always have to pay our fee in full even if they are not convicted.

Fees for motoring offences

1. £50.00 plus VAT to provide initial telephone advice on motoring prosecutions, which includes viewing the Notice of intended Prosecution or Requisition received from the court and discussing them with you.
2. £200 plus VAT to consider the prosecution paperwork, which includes the requisition and Prosecution Witness Statements, taking your instructions on the evidence and providing our advice on the strength of the prosecution you face and the likely sentence if you are convicted. This fee will be credited back to you if you then instruct us to deal with the proceedings on a private fee basis.
3. £400 plus VAT for attending an interview under caution by an agency other than the police. This includes obtaining the disclosure from the prosecting agency on the day of the interview; obtaining your instructions; advising on the evidence and the interview process, including advising you on your options in interview; and attending and representing you in the interview.
4. £750 plus VAT for a guilty-plea hearing, which includes considering the Prosecution evidence; taking your instructions; advising on likely sentence; attending court with you for one hearing; putting forward mitigation at the hearing; confirming the sentence in writing; and our advice on appeal. It does not include lodging an appeal against any sentence or any disbursement/Witness fees. If a guilty plea case is not finalised at one hearing, then the £750 plus VAT fixed fee is increased by £250 plus VAT by each additional hearing we attend.
5. £1,000 plus VAT for a guilty plea to an endorsable motoring offence such as speeding, no insurance, or careless driving, where an exceptional hardship argument is to be raised to try to avoid or reduce a period of disqualification. This includes considering the prosecution evidence; taking your instructions on hardship; considering your evidence on hardship; preparing you for the court process and the possibility of giving evidence; and attending and representing at a single hearing at the Magistrates’ Court. It does not include lodging an appeal against any sentence or any expert witness expenses.
6. £2,250 plus VAT for a matter where a not-guilty plea is entered that is listed for trial, or for a special-reasons hearing on a motoring offence to try to avoid a disqualification or endorsement, or an appeal to the Crown Court against conviction. This includes considering the prosecution papers; taking your instructions; preparing your defence/special reasons for trial; taking relevant witness statements; attending court with you; dealing with the questioning of the witnesses; and assisting you with giving evidence and presenting your case to the court. To include the sentencing hearing if relevant.
Where a matter is listed for a trial, or any contested hearing, to last more than one day, or where the trial or hearing actually lasts more than one day, the £2,250 plus VAT fixed fee is increased by £1,000 plus VAT for each additional day.

VAT will apply in all circumstances, irrespective of the amount of work we do. The current standard rate of VAT is 20%

Added this in to match fixed fee page.

The instruction of an Expert, application to appeal a sentence/verdict and any ancillary disbursements connected with your case are not included in any of the above listed fees.