Our Private Client Department
Our Private Client Department
Our Private Client Department
Why do we have a Private Client Department
Legal Aid is government funding that pays our fees when we represent you in your case.
There are restrictions on what cases can obtain Legal Aid. Less serious cases, such as driving offences, are unlikely to attract Legal Aid for Court proceedings. In more serious cases, Legal Aid can often be “means tested” meaning that if you earn (or own) too much, you are ineligible.
However, even if Legal Aid is granted, there are still restrictions on what services can be provided by us. Any time, costs and work undertaken must be justified as Legal Aid is public funding. We are only therefore permitted to incur such costs as are deemed necessary.
Legal Aid is therefore a pared-back service and akin to the services offered by the NHS. By way of analogy, if you are unwell, you can book an appointment on the NHS with your GP. He or she will be a highly trained Doctor who is adept at assessing your health and will do their best to help you appropriately. But experience tells us that trying to see your GP face to face is difficult; they are faced with limited funding and a growing population. You might eventually get a face-to-face appointment, but it’s often rushed as they are only allocated a small amount of time per patient. If something is seriously wrong, they will of course refer you to a specialist for treatment, but it will take a long time to see a specialist, often months of waiting. That is loosely analogous to the Legal Aid service in which well meaning, dedicated professionals, do their best, but offer a limited service due to public funding constraints.
Contrast the above example with someone seeking medical advice when paying privately. An immediate appointment with the Harley Street Doctor of your choice is available if you pay for it. An entire battery of tests can be run - just to be on the safe side. World renowned consultants of your choice can be brought in to give an opinion. A complicated operation can be scheduled to take place within days, instead of months on the NHS. Ultimately, you get what you pay for.
Legal Aid is not dissimilar. We can represent anyone in the Police Station for free under the Legal Aid scheme. A fully qualified representative will attend the Station, discuss the case with you, advise you to the best of their ability and represent you whilst you are interviewed. It is a good service, and it is wonderful that Legal Aid ensures everyone can be represented.
However, many clients would prefer a fuller service, a better service and that is what Private Client can provide. Subject to the level of service required and agreed upon, we can arrange to meet, in person or virtually, well in advance of the police station to discuss the case in full and consider tactics. We can guarantee the attendance at the police station of a senior solicitor, normally a Director of your choice. Private clients are given the mobile telephone number of the Director so that help is on hand as and when desired, and that Director will directly run your case throughout your time with the firm. Meetings can be held after the interview to discuss how things went and to plan any tactical changes if necessary. Representations can be made to the Police and Prosecution with a view to stopping the case from even progressing to Court. Expert witnesses can be instructed to undermine police evidence, and so on; the potential services available are as lengthy as funds allow.
If considering bespoke, private client Police Station representation, we would speak with you initially, at no cost, to take brief details of your case which in turn will allow us to provide you with a fixed fee quote. Our hourly charging rates at Director level are £300 per hour. When offering a fixed fee however, we can discount our rates as the fixed fee takes away the need to use Accountancy Services. The savings are passed onto our clients; thus, we recover about the same sum for our services, but our clients will save money.
By way of example, in a standard, private fixed fee, police station matter involving a meeting in advance of the attendance, the police station attendance itself and any necessary ancillary work thereafter, we would charge a sum starting at approximately £1000 plus VAT (capped at 6 hours work but involving allthe above) - a significant saving of £300 p/hr x 6 hours.
Driving Offences
Additional Information
If you are charged with a minor driving offence such as speeding, careless driving or drink or drug driving, it’s unlikely you will receive Legal Aid to allow free representation in Court. Although deemed a minor offence by the Legal Aid Agency, the repercussions for you can be considerable. If pleading guilty or being convicted, you may well face losing your driving licence and potentially with that, your livelihood. As such, people chose to instruct us privately to try and avoid or minimise a driving ban.
If you are considering paying privately for representation in such cases, please contact us to have a free, brief conversation in which we will assess the fundamentals of your case, before providing you with a bespoke fixed fee depending on your requirements
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By way of example, at the lower end of the costs scale, a fixed fee for a driving case involving a guilty plea at the first appearance, consideration of minimal amounts of Prosecution evidence (under 50 pages) and concluding at that first appearance (involving representing you at that hearing and mitigating on your behalf), would start in the region of £500 plus VAT.
Exceptional Hardship
Accumulating 12 or more penalty points on your licence
If you accumulate 12 or more penalty points on your licence, the Court is obliged to disqualify you from driving for a minimum period of 6 months.
The only instance where the Court has the discretion not to do so is where it finds that ‘exceptional hardship’ would result if you were to be disqualified from driving. In those circumstances, the Court can exercise its discretion to disqualify for a shorter period or not to disqualify at all.
The test as to what amounts to ‘exceptional hardship’ is extremely high. The hardship that is suffered is not limited to the impact upon you but will be suffered by others.
If you are at risk of disqualification under the ‘totting up’ provisions, it will usually be necessary to conduct a substantial amount of work in advance of the Court hearing. This is because the onus is upon the person who is liable to be disqualified under the ‘totting up’ provisions to demonstrate that ‘exceptional hardship’ will result.
Typically, that will involve you giving live evidence at the Court hearing. Supporting evidence will almost always be necessary to properly advance the argument. This may include taking statements from other witnesses and calling them to give evidence, obtaining detailed financial reports or providing medical evidence.
A typical case of this nature would require 4 and 6 hours of work in advance of the hearing itself. The hearing at which the argument is advanced before the Court can typically last an hour or two, exclusive of waiting time which can potentially be hours more.
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As a consequence, a fixed fee for such a hearing is likely to start at about £1200 plus VAT.
We offer these as examples of approximate costs involved, but each fee will be bespoke based on your requirements and the case complexity. We will not of course charge you for providing the fixed fee quote so we urge you to contact us at no obligation, to discuss your case further.
24hr Arrest Hotline
If you or a family member have been arrested or asked to attend a police station imminently for a voluntary interview, call us on this number now.
All other queries can be handled using our contact us form.