I am required to set out my fees as part of being an authorised direct access barrister.
First, my fees are paid ahead of time and before the work or preparation commences. As such, I am not formally instructed until I have been paid. If I think you might be entitled to public funding i.e., legal aid, I will let you know.
It might also be worth checking your house insurance if you have paid for before the event legal expenses insurance. You may also want to check your employee benefits. No point paying me if you can get the fees covered elsewhere.
What are my rates? Well it depends on the type of work I am being asked to do. However, my hourly rate ranges from £200-£250 per hour. That may seem to be a lot but a solicitor of equivalent experience is expected to charge in the region of £218 – £348 per hour depending on where they are located!
When giving a quote what is taken into account is the amount of time to read the papers, consider them and prepare my advice be it in writing or in conference. It is similar for a hearing but then there is the element of representing you in court and what the listed time is for that. Some hearings are far more complicated than others.
For illustrative purposes, conferences typically tend to fall in the region of £1,500 – £2,500 plus VAT. Conferences are where we meet and have a discussion about your case. They tend to last anywhere from 1 – 2.5 hours. That fee range would include:
- Reading all the papers you provide to me (they can be voluminous)
- Researching and checking any points of law or procedure
- Preparing for our conference
- Attending the conference with you which will be involve me asking you questions, advising you and you getting to ask me questions
- Coming up with an action plan for afterwards so everyone knows what happens next
I am VAT registered so any quote is plus VAT.
I prefer payments by bank transfer but I can arrange for payments to be made by a credit card if necessary.
Transparency Rules
The Bar Standards Board requires additional information for consumers who purchase services relating to certain areas of law. I offer services which are caught by these additional transparency rules.
Financial disputes arising out of divorce
These rules apply where the parties have joint assets which are worth less than £300,000. Matrimonial finance proceedings can be straight forward or complex. The usual general rule is the more assets a former couple have, the more complex the proceedings will be. But that is not always true and each case must be assessed on its own facts and merits.
I can operate on a fixed fee or hourly basis. However, given that this website is for my direct access practice, fixed fees are what will be offered. The following stable is an estimate of where fees may fall:
| Stage | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Written advice | £175 – £250 + VAT per hour |
| Conference (a meeting between us) | £1,000 – £2,000 + VAT |
| Assisting with the drafting of documents | £175 – £250 + VAT per hour |
| Court representation at the FDA | £1,000 – £2,000 + VAT |
| Court Representation at the FDR | £1,750 – £3,000 + VAT |
| First Day of Final Hearing including preparation | £3,000-£5,000 + VAT |
| Each additional day of a Final Hearing | £1,000 – £2,000 + VAT |
Inheritance Act advices
The term ‘Inheritance Act’ refers to Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. This is a tricky area of law that is very fact specific and nuanced. In these proceeding there isn’t the same sort of structured stepping stones as you see in matrimonial finance. The following fee information applies to estates where the net value is £300,000 or less.
I can provide you with a written advice about your prospective application or if you are an executor or beneficiary about what this means for the estate. Fees for that would be somewhere between £1,500 – £2,500 plus VAT.
However, I personally find in these sorts of cases written advices are not the most helpful. I much prefer to have a conference between us so I can get to know you and your family. Often times more information comes to light and we can have an open and frank discussion about any claim. In my experience, clients tend to prefer conferences to written advices. The cost of a conference which would last from 1 – 2 hours is in around £1,200 – £2,500 depending on the complexity and number of issues.
The other advantage of a conference over a written advice is I can advise you much sooner. It takes me anywhere from 21 days – 1 month to turn around a written advice and often, unfortunately, I run late. Whilst a conference I can book you in with about 48 hours notice – about a week depending on how often I am in court. My turnaround for conferences is much quicker. Trust me, in most circumstances, you want a conference over a written advice.
“Thanks very much for the advice. Please pass on my thanks to counsel – prompt, straight to the point, clear and professionally done.”
— Oxfordshire Solicitor
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