Funding Your Case
We know that paying for a solicitor is one of the first things you will worry about.
This page sets out what we charge, when legal aid may cover your case, and what you would pay if it does not.
Legal cases cost money. Before we start working on your case, we'll explain what it will cost and how you can pay for it. Some clients qualify for legal aid, others pay privately. We'll help you understand which option applies to you.
Do You Pay Your Own Fees Or Require Legal Aid?
Fee Paying Clients
What we charge if you are paying for the work yourself.
We charge a fixed fee for some services and an hourly rate for more complex matters. We give you a full breakdown of costs at the consultation.
We can spread the cost of some work over a payment plan. Ask us at the consultation and we will tell you whether your case can be funded that way.
At the consultation we go through your case and tell you what it is likely to cost. If we cannot help, we say so then rather than later.
Legal Aid
What legal aid covers, and how we work out whether you qualify.
We hold legal aid franchises in family and in immigration. We will assess your eligibility for legal aid at the consultation and this is done on means and merit. It is the assessment, not the enquiry, that decides how your case proceeds.
The consultation is £216 including VAT. Two things remove it. The first is a legal aid certificate you already hold. The second is a matter that is care proceedings brought by a local authority, where a parent or anyone with parental responsibility is entitled without being means or merits tested.
The checker above is not a certificate. It estimates eligibility, it does not grant it, and we cannot waive the fee on a checker result. Only the certificate is proof. Outside those two situations the fee is payable and is not negotiable.
Available for protection from domestic abuse, for child protection proceedings, and for other family matters subject to the tests. In care and supervision proceedings brought by a local authority, a parent or anyone with parental responsibility is neither means tested nor merits tested, and that applies from the moment a letter before proceedings arrives.
Asylum and protection work is in scope for legal aid, as is advice on immigration detention and applications for immigration bail, whatever the underlying matter. Most other immigration work, including family visas and the EU Settlement Scheme, was taken out of scope in 2013 and is privately funded, though Exceptional Case Funding can be applied for where refusing it would breach your rights.
We will tell you what evidence of your income and capital is needed and make the application for you. If you do not qualify we will say so at that point, and explain what the work would cost instead. The certificate is issued by the Legal Aid Agency, not by us, which is why we cannot treat an estimate as one.