Our People, Prices & Complaints

Our People

Keith Jeffreys – Partner & Compliance Officer

LLB (Hons) Wales – Qualified as a solicitor in 1998.

Main areas of experience: Taxi Licensing, Motoring Offences, Mortgage Possession & Landlord & Tenant Possession Claims, County & Magistrates Court Advocacy, Judicial Reviews, Appeals & Appeals to the High Court by way of Case Stated.

Paul Warren – Partner

LLB (Hons) Wales – Qualified as a solicitor in 2006

Main areas of experience: Police Station attendance, Motoring Offences, Landlord & Tenant Possession Claims, Small Claims & Fast Track Trials, Taxi Licensing, County & Magistrates Court Advocacy.

Patrick Arran – Consultant Solicitor

LLB (Hons) Wales – Qualified as a solicitor in 1999

Accredited Commercial Mediator. 14 years experience in local government with 7 years in senior management and as Monitoring / Deputy Monitoring Officer. Generalist with experience in a wide variety of legal issues throughout 22 years in legal practice

Our Prices

We offer a free, no obligation, initial consultation. Thereafter (other than small claims, fast track and multi-track cases) we agree costs with you for the work that we are briefed to carry out before you commit to use our services. In cases where fees are not agreed in advance, we will provide you with our best estimate on likely costs. Our hourly charging rates are set out at the foot of this notice.

Motoring Matters:

Our fees for attending Court and putting forward a Plea in Mitigation is £250.00 for Courts within a 10 mile radius of our office and £300.00 plus VAT for cases where we have to travel up to 50 miles to attend Court. For attending Courts in excess of 50 miles from our office we will agree a modest additional fee for travel and where applicable any charge for an overnight stay. Timescale to complete this service will be on the day set down by the court for hearing

Defended Motoring Cases:

Every case is unique on its facts so it is impossible to quote an exact price. From experience we estimate that a typical defended case will incur costs of around £1,800.00 plus any *expert fees that might have to be paid, plus *counsel’s fees. All prices are subject to VAT at the current rate from time to time. Timescale to complete this service will be subject to the Court timetable, typically 2 to 3 months. * denotes where applicable. It is rare to need the services of an expert or counsel in Magistrates Court hearings for most motoring matters, but in certain complex cases, where speed, level of alcohol, or vehicle safety is a central issue, then such expert assistance might prove essential to the outcome. Where the matter is to be heard at Crown Court, counsel will always be instructed, and typically counsel’s fee will be in the region of £750.00 plus VAT.

Liqour Licensing Applications:

Our fees for drafting and submitting a typical “Premises Licence” application is £650.00 plus any Licence application fees that are payable to the Council at the time the application is made. All prices are subject to VAT at the current rate from time to time. Timescale to complete this service varies from one local authority to another but can typically take around 6 to 8 weeks from start to finish

Taxi Licensing Panel Meetings

Our fees for attending a typical Licencing Panel hearing and putting forward an argument that your licence should be granted, or not suspended/revoked is £250.00 for councils within a 10 mile radius of our office and £300.00 plus VAT for cases where we have to travel up to 50 miles to attend. For attendance in excess of 50 miles from our office we will agree a modest additional fee for travel and where applicable an overnight stay. Timescale to complete this service will be on the day set down by the council for hearing.

Taxi Licensing Appeals to the Magistrates Court or Crown Court

Every case is unique on its facts, so it is impossible to quote an exact price. From experience we estimate that a typical Taxi Driver Licence Appeal will incur costs of around £1,200.00 plus Court fees, *expert fees that might have to be paid, plus *counsel’s fees. All prices are subject to VAT at the current rate from time to time. Timescale to complete this service will be subject to the Court timetable, typically 2 to 3 months. * denotes where applicable. It is rare to need the services of an expert or counsel in Magistrates Court hearings for most Taxi Licensing matters, but in certain complex cases, where conditions of licence or passenger safety is a central issue, then such expert assistance might prove essential to the outcome. Where the matter is to be heard at Crown Court, counsel will always be instructed, and typically counsel’s fee will be in the region of £750.00 plus VAT.

Rent Possession Claims

Our standard fee for a Rent Possession Claim is £450.00 plus Court fees and Land Registry Fees applicable from time to time. This will include one attendance at Court when the case is listed for hearing. All prices are subject to VAT at the current rate from time. Timescale to complete this service will be subject to whether we are required to serve s8 or s21 notices and of course the Court timetable which can vary across England & Wales. Typically a claim is listed for hearing by the courts within 2 months of proceedings being issued.

Hourly Rate

For work such as debt recovery (small business only), small claims & fast track trials, our standard hourly rate is currently £180.00. Standard letters sent/received and standard telephone calls made/received are charged at £18.00 per letter/call. Lengthy letters in excess of 2 pages and telephone calls over 6 minutes are charged at the hourly rate referred to above. We will provide you with our best estimate on fees and court costs on a case by case basis prior to you committing to use our services, as some can be settled with the minimum of fuss, whilst other cases can from the outset be more complex and time consuming.

All fees and disbursements are subject to VAT at the standard rate applicable at the time

Complaints & Complaints Procedure

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below.

After receiving your complaint, we will send you a letter acknowledging receipt within three days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

What do to if we cannot resolve your complaint

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ