Costs

Costs are calculated by reference to the time your legal team spends in respect of any work which they do on your behalf. This may include meetings with you and perhaps other authorised persons on your behalf; reading, preparing, and working on papers; making and receiving telephone calls, emails, faxes, and text messages; preparation of any detailed costs estimates, schedules/bills and time necessarily spent travelling away from the office.

Routine letters are charged at six-minute units of time.

We also charge for the time spent making and taking telephone calls and considering incoming letters (including consideration of incoming emails) at six-minute units.

Only once details of your matter are known and an assessment as to your prospects of success have been carried out will we be able to confirm whether a no-win no-fee type arrangement can be offered. A meeting will be held to discuss how this arrangement will work, what fees you will still have to cover (for example Barrister and Expert costs), and what happens if you win or lose.

A Fixed Fee is an alternative to the standard hourly rate, with a fixed price for each stage of legal work. It is not dictated by the time spent. By the nature of the name, the fee is fixed, not a fee that can be varied upwards, nor a fee that is dependent on the transaction being completed.

Fixed Fees are payable at the commencement of the case.

Our standard hourly rates are:

• Solicitor of over 10 years – £400 excluding VAT
• Solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive – £300 excluding VAT
• Trainee Solicitor – £250 – £275 excluding VAT
• Senior Paralegal – £180 – £250.00 excluding VAT
• Paralegal – £150 excluding VAT

We will keep you updated regularly regarding your costs. Your costs include: our Charges for time spent on your matter, any Disbursements, Counsel’s fees and other Expenses as agreed.

You will be invoiced on a monthly basis unless otherwise agreed. Invoices will be sent directly from our Accounts Department who can be contacted by emailing Finance@kidwells-solicitors.zestdigit.al

For work that is outside of any agreed capped fee and charged at the hourly rate, we would provide estimates and keep you regularly updated. Requests for monies to be paid on account before commencing the agreed work will be made. Any payment on account of costs is client money and will be held in a client account until a bill has been submitted to you.

Our policy on disbursements is summarised below:

• We do not charge for standard postage costs. Bulky items, couriers, and guaranteed deliveries are charged out at a cost.
• Third-party disbursements include, but are not limited to, Barristers, Experts, Court Fees, Land Registry and Companies House. Please note that our fees do not include any disbursements. If an Expert or Barrister needs to be instructed you will be provided with a list of quotes for your approval prior to engaging their services. We will request monies on account to pay for their services if required. You will be notified of any other disbursements before they are incurred and asked to make payment on account.

Some litigation carries costs risks which can work for or against you depending upon whether you win or lose. We will inform you of the initial risks associated to your matter in our Letter of Instruction and thereafter throughout your matter.

You will be informed that even if you win your case it does not automatically mean that you will be able to recover the money, or any costs that you may be awarded. You will be advised of this in specific relation to the nature of your matter at the outset and throughout your instruction.

Even if you win your case and you are entitled to costs, this will not necessarily mean that you will be entitled to recover all of the costs incurred. For a variety of reasons there may be some shortfall between the actual costs incurred, and the costs that are recoverable. This will be discussed with you as the case progresses.