We make the charges for our services as transparent and as certain as possible.
1. Generally:
- If your business joins our BLUE LAW scheme, we will try to answer any legal enquiry that you have, under the terms of that scheme. All calls to the BLUE LAW helpline are free of charge.
- Whilst we try to keep our fees keen, we deal with matters of huge importance to businesses. Cutting costs and therefore corners is not how we want to do things. We prefer to charge a respectable fee that enables us to offer a great service - every lawyer every time.
- You will not be liable to us for any fees until we have given you a fee quote and you have accepted it.
- If we can give a fixed or capped fee, in the absence of any variation in the work and further agreement between us, the initial fee will always apply.
- If we have to charge on a time-spent basis, we will give you an estimate of the overall cost and will update that each quarter.
- We tell you as best we can of any "out of pocket" expenses that you will incur in addition to our fees
2. More specifically:
Where we act for you in relation to any commercial legal services, depending on the work in question we may be able to offer you a fixed or capped fee - for example if you want us to act for you in relation to a particular contract or in relation to a particular commercial or property transaction. We offer fixed prices too for Debt Recovery work and for some of our Employment Law services.
In other areas such as in an ongoing litigation or Tribunal case, fixed or capped fees may not be available and instead we might charge on a time-spent basis. In such cases, we allocate the matter to a lawyer of appropriate seniority. They record the time they spend on the case and invoice you each month for their work during the month. We give you a costs estimate at the outset and then update that every quarter, as estimates can go up or down as the case progresses.
We also explore with you whether you are able to get any third party (such as an insurance company) to cover your legal costs, or whether the merits and clarity of the case and the standing of any opposition are such that the case could be taken on a "no win, no fee" basis.
We also advise you on whether you might be able to recover part of your legal costs from the other side, depending on the type of case and the outcome of it.
Finally, it is important that you bear in mind any risk that there is (depending on the type of case) that you might become liable to pay the other side's legal costs as well as your own. We look at the risks of this with you and also explore whether any insurance cover might be available to you to protect you against that risk.
Whatever you case relates to, if you want to talk it through with us on a "no obligation" basis to get our views on it and to get a better idea of what our fees would be for acting for you, just click on "Please contact me now" or call us on 0845 567 6000.