|
 |
Fees & Costs |
Like with all goods and services you pay for what you get. At Solomon Legal we have
set our fee structure to be competitive and flexible. We strive to achieve a balance
in proving good quality legal services at an affordable fee structure without compromising
our high standards of service
At Solomon Legal we are prepared to work within your set budgets limit and we hope
to be affordable for many individuals and business entities. We aim not to be out
of kilter with pricing structures of our main competitors.
We are well structured
to handle high volumes of legal cases which corresponding means that our clients
can benefit from a highly competitive fee structure, offering a scale of fixed fees
subject to volume of business, or hourly rate charges for ad hoc instructions.
We
can arrange direct debit to suit your monthly budget requirements.
The various methods of funding
your case are as follows:-
1. HOURLY BILLING
By far still the most common
form of funding for the provision of legal services. We will charge you privately
for all the work we have done on a time out basis and invoice you at regular intervals.
We will give you written details of the hourly rates applicable
to your case when you discuss your matter with us
Unless a fixed rate fee ("Quotation") has been agreed, the value of our service
is based on the time we spend on a matter and the expertise of our lawyers. Hourly
rates vary according to the level of expertise of the lawyers and the area of work
involved and will include all necessary legal work which we have done on your behalf
and the time spent in dealing with your affairs will include e.g. meetings with
you and perhaps others; attending court; any time spent travelling; considering,
preparing and working on case papers; cost drafting the work done on your file;
preparing costs schedules and costs budgets; dealing with correspondence and making
and receiving telephone calls, diagnostically advising you in relation to the matter
generally including responding to any further requests for information in order
to progress your case, conducting any legal researches, reporting to you in relation
to the progress of your case and all incidental work thereto. Hours are split into 10 units for convenience. A straightforward letter
not exceeding one page,
or telephone call not exceeding 6 minutes will usually
count as one unit.
In addition to the
time spent we may take into account a number of factors which include (but not limited
to):-
- The complexity of the matter;
- The skill labour specialised knowledge
and responsibility involved;
- The time spent on the matter;
- The number and
importance of the documentation involved;
- The place and circumstances in which
the business is transacted;
- The amount or value in money of any property involved;
- The importance of the matter to you and any special priority you
request us to
give to your matter.
In addition Vat will be charged at the prevailing and applicable rates.
Our
charging rates are competitive and compare favourably with many larger practices
and other firms in the area
Any estimates given are on the assumption that the
matter is not unusually urgent complicated or time consuming. Any estimates we agree
will be subject to our right to increase the estimate if the work becomes more complicated
than originally anticipated. We will inform you if any unforeseen extra work which
becomes necessary, for example, due to unexpected circumstances, or if your requirements
or the circumstances change significantly. We will endeavour to inform you in writing
of the estimated cost of the extra work before incurring costs and we will attempt
to agree an amended charge with you.
2. FIXED FEE BASIS
Fixed fee basis of charging usually tends to be
in straightforward cases, where it is not hard to predict how muh time will be
spent to finish the job.
3. CONDITIONAL FEE AGREEMENTS ("No Win No Fee")
Responding to the competitive legal
market and to prove our worth and commitment in ensuring that there is access to
justice, Solomon Legal are able to offer Conditional Fee Agreement("CFA") as a
form of funding the costs of your case.
Solomons Legal is pleased to be able to
offer Conditional Fee Arrangement in connection with many legal disputes including:-
Contractual Disputes
Professional Negligence
Insolvency
Personal Injury
What Is No Win, No Fee?
A No Win, No Fee Agreement, otherwise
known as a Conditional Fee Agreement ("CFA") is a method by which you can fund your
claim for compensation.
In essence the way a "No Win, No Fee" Agreement works is
that if you lose you pay nothing and if you win you will receive your damages in
tact i.e without any deductions.
How Much will it Cost Me?
In the event that your
claim is unsuccessful, you do not have to pay our fees. An insurance policy can
be taken out to cover the expenses incurred in pursuing your claim and your opponent's
legal costs. The decision to take an insurance policy will depend upon each individual
case and the client is advised whether to take out a policy at the outset.
Can I enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement?
Solomons Legal solicitors offer our
clients the option to enter into a CFA if there are no other ways of funding your
claim. Prior to entering into the CFA a solicitor will discuss with you the other
alternative methods of funding available to you. We will then explain the terms
of Conditional Fee Agreement before you sign.
Each case is risk assessed. There
will obviously be cases where we will not be able to offer a CFA and these will
usually be cases where we have considered the risks associated with the case to
be untenable, however in such circumstances this may not necessarily preclude you
from instructing us on a traditional private retainer.
There are a number of CFA
schemes available, which are usually linked to an insurance policy as it would be
foolhardy to pursue any legal claim without insurance to cover the associated risks
against any costs that might be awarded against you if you fail to win. Unfortunately
no case is a guaranteed success.
Quite simply under a CFA, if the case is lost,
then we get no payment for all the work which we have undertaken in relation to
your case. In return for taking this risk and in return for funding your case for
what may be quite a long period of time without any income, we agree with you that
if the case is won, then on top of our normal legal fees which the opponent pays,
we will receive a "Success Fee". Value Added Tax is always added to the Success
Fee. We may be able to reclaim the Success Fee from your opponent.
You can choose
to pay all disbursements as the case proceeds out of your own pocket. Or, as most
people do, you can take advantage of Disbursement Funding Credit (details below).
We do not fund disbursements in any case.
We can usually only offer you this service
if at the same time you take out an Insurance Policy, which, for a "one-off" premium,
covers you against your opponent's costs and the amount of your own disbursements
if you should lose your case. You can however reclaim the Insurance Premium from
your opponent, as part of your costs. Also we can offer credit terms to cover for
this premium with the net effect that you do not have to pay it at the start. If
you are unfortunate enough to lose your case, you do not even have to pay it at
the end.
Conditional Fee Agreement Illustration:
Compensation received: £10,000.
Agreed Success Fee: 25% - (Please note this is not 25% of your compensation - it
is only 25% of the final legal costs for work we have actually done, and it is claimable
from your opponent).
Legal costs: £5000, including solicitors' charges of £4000
(paid by opponent)
Success fee £4000 X 25% = £1,000 + VAT @ 17.5% = £1,175
If for
example a 25% cap was agreed then the maximum possible Success Fee (in this example)
would be £10,000 X 25% = £2,500 + VAT. As you can reclaim the Success Fee from your
opponent and once recovered from your opponent, the Success Fee would be repaid
to you, so that the claim may effectively have cost you nothing.
It cannot be guaranteed
that the whole of any Success Fee or Premium will be deemed reasonable for the opponent
to pay.
Insurance - AEI ("After The Event") Policies
There are a number of policies
available on the market, which do not cover your own solicitor's legal fees (on
the basis that your solicitor will agree to work "No Win, No Fee"), but which only
covers you against the risk of losing. In this country the loser will in the majority
of cases have to pay the wining opponents legal costs which could be quite substantial.
AEI will provide you with protection against any award of costs against you in favour
of your opponent, and against your own "disbursements" - i.e. out of pocket expenses
e.g. court fees, medical reports and the like which can be quite expensive.
It is
important for you to consider if you already insured. You might already have legal
expenses cover, and you should always check your personal papers first, so that
you do not risk taking out insurance unnecessarily. Please note that if you take
out unnecessary insurance, then even if you win your claim, you will not be able
to claim the insurance premium back as a result of which it would ultimate come
out of your money.
Legal expenses cover might be included with all sorts of financial
deals and may well be found in any of the following:
Household buildings
and contents insurance
As part of your Motor Insurance policy
As an add-on to your motor policy; e.g. arranged through your brokers A
passenger injured in a car might be covered by the driver's insurance
policy;
Credit card agreements sometimes include such cover
This list is by no means exhaustive.
It is up to you to check what cover you already hold. If you bring your policy documents
to us, we will be happy to read and check them for you. Even if you do have cover,
you might not be obliged to use it; for example, the cover may be insufficient.
If you do not have any insurance cover we will be able to offer through a network
of providers a good value policy to cover such costs. The premium will obviously
vary depending on the type of claim you want to pursue but we will ensure that it
is competitive and ensure that the range of cover is very good for your own benefit
and protection.
There are policies which you can buy that cover you against your
own solicitors and your opponent's costs.
The insurance underwriter will consider
whether they will be able to offer insurance on an individual case basis. You must
first complete a Proposal Form, and pay them any fee per application which might
of course be refused. Top-up cover could be purchased in the future should the need
ever arise, though that may be at higher rates. Obviously you could take the risk
of applying for less cover initially and thus pay a lower initial premium.
Combinations
of available funding schemes
In some circumstances it may be appropriate to consider
a combination of funding options. For example, it may be possible to enter into
a CFA with AEI to cover just your opponent's costs, and for your own disbursements
but not legal costs, in combination with a Conditional Fee Agreement in respect
of our own costs (if we offer one) or possibly funding your own costs privately.
Disbursement Funding
Disbursements are those payments that we have to make on your
behalf, to other people or agencies. For example, during an average court case we
may have to pay the court fees on commencement of the action, allocation and trial
fees, witness summonses, application fees etc etc. Medical reports, including GP
fees and hospital charges. If the case gets to trial and the court allows expert
attendance, experts can each charge many hundreds of pounds for each day they have
to spend in Court. As you can see, the cash outlays for any case are likely to be
quite substantial and will increase as the case goes on.
We cannot fund the disbursements
on clients' behalf. You must be able to pay for such disbursements from your own
savings and resources. Alternatively you can seek credit funding from any financial
institution.
If you do not wish to pay for these disbursements as the case goes
on, then we can arrange credit for you under various funding schemes but in so advising
you of the availability of such schemes we are not offering you any financial advice.
You complete a credit application form which is submitted to the Lender. If your
credit is approved, the Lender will pay the disbursements as the case goes on, up
to your agreed credit limit. You are charged interest on the balance outstanding.
Payments can be made by you to reduce the balance, and thus the interest, as the
case goes on but you are not obliged to pay anything until the case finishes. The
interest will always be payable by you.
There is no need for you to take out any
credit arrangements at all, if you prefer to fund the necessary payments from your
own pocket as the case goes along.
4. CONTINGENCY FEE AGREEMENTS
Solomons Legal is
pleased to be able to offer Contingency fee agreement in connection with many employment
legal disputes.
A Contingency Fee Agreement with a firm of solicitors means that
you pay a percentage of your compensation (if any). This is not permitted for court
work therefore can not be offered to clients pursuing a personal injury claim, However
Contingency Fee Agreements are allowed for tribunal work and as the vast majority
of employment claims are dealt with by the employment tribunals, we can offer our
clients' the option to enter into the agreement.
5. PUBLIC FUNDING ("LEGAL AID")
You
may qualify for financial help with your case, if that type of case is eligible
for public funding and if you qualify financially (public funding may be free, or
with a monthly contribution, depending on your financial means). Your case must
be sufficiently deserving to pass an appropriate merits test. Please note that the
government has abolished almost all legal aid for personal injury claims. There
however remains only a restrictive category of legal areas for which public funding
is still available. Only franchised firms are able to deliver publicly funded services.
Public funding is usually obtained by completing appropriate forms and an application
may take 2 or 3 weeks to complete. Some forms of criminal and emergency public funding
may be available immediately. Unfortunately Solomons Legal does not undertake any
public funding work.
It is important to understand that, even if you have public
funding or considering applying for public funding, it does not mean that you will
never have to pay anything. Public funding charges will first of all come out of
any money or property you recover or preserve. Also, you may be ordered to pay all
or part of your opponents costs, although public funding may at least offer some
protection and the court would have to judge what amount was fair. Public funding
will usually fund disbursements (i.e. out of pocket expenses, such as court fees).
Public funding is not only restrictive but can be unnecessarily bureaucratic and
slow to meet your immediate needs and concerns.
In recent years the legal landscape
has been changing rapidly and has witnessed a growth in privately funded litigation
with a corresponding decrease in public funding, especially with emergence of Conditional
Fee Agreements. You may assess that Public Funding is not for you in which case
in which case we will be happy to assist you.
OBTAIN A FEE ESTIMATE
As you can see,
there are various options to consider and we will of course be happy to discuss
your particular requirements with you without commitment. | |
|
Central Boulevard