Motoring Offences Our Fees

This price information is for assistance in relation to summary only (heard at the Magistrates Court) motoring offences under Part I of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and s89 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Legal Fees and Disbursements:

Note: Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties.

We will usually work on the basis of fixed fees which usually vary depending on the offence (please see the table below). Depending on the nature of the offence and your personal circumstances you may be eligible for Legal Aid and this is a matter that will always be discussed with you if this is relevant to your case.

On occasions we may need to work on an hourly rate basis which is £350.00 per hour. If this applies in your case, we will let you know at the outset of your case and provide you with an estimate of the likely overall legal fee that will be incurred.

Travel is charged at £100.00 per hour. Mileage is charged at 45 pence per mile.  Disbursements may attract VAT.  Sometimes experts may be instructed. Before instructing experts, we will obtain quotations and provide you with the costs before formally instructing an expert.  Expert reports may be required for example in road traffic collision cases and cases of drink/drug driving.

 

Initial Advice	Written Mitigation	Guilty Plea
To consider the case papers, obtain instructions either in person or over the telephone and provide advice in relation to the case, possible defences, sentence and merits of Special Reasons or exceptional hardship argument if applicable. – £150.00 plus VAT (20%) This advice will be provide at the appointment or within 7 days thereafter. This is limited to initial advice as described above and does not include attending Court.	This includes taking initial instructions, consideration of the case paper and providing initial advice. We will prepare a document of bespoke written mitigation which will be sent to you and submitted to the Court in readiness for the hearing. We aim to have this prepared within 14 days of your appointment or sooner if the Court hearing is before that date. This does not include attending the hearing. – £400.00 plus VAT (20%)	To include initial advice and representation at Court on one occasion. Included in this fee is a conference at Court on the day of the hearing itself and representation in Court. You will be advised on the merits of an appeal at the conclusion of the case and if a disqualification is imposed and you wish to appeal, the appeal will be drafted at Court and an application will be made to restore your driving licence pending appeal. The fee does not include any Appeal at the Crown Court. – £600.00 plus VAT (20%)
Special Reasons/Exceptional Hardship	Trials
To include initial advice, conference, obtaining statements from witnesses, and cross examination of prosecution witnesses. Preparation of your case and conducting the hearing. The initial hearing to list the case will be dealt with by letter. Providing advice on appeal if unsuccessful, A court date is received quite quickly, and the case should conclude on the day of the hearing and within 6 months. This fee does not include any appeal that may be heard in the Crown Court. £750.00 plus VAT (20%)	This largely depends upon the case. Legal Aid may be available. For a Magistrates case with 2 prosecution witnesses and the defendant to give evidence. The fee does include providing advice on appeal but not the actual appeal hearing itself. A trial in the Magistrates Court should be listed within 3 months of the initial Court Hearing if not sooner. £750.00 to £1,000.00 plus VAT (20%) For more complex cases we will provide a quote on a case by case basis.

-VAT where payable is currently at 20%

The typical timescales

We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court.

We will attend court on the day and meet with you before going before the court. We anticipate being at court for up to half a day. These type of cases are all usually concluded within 6 months.

We will discuss the outcome with you. If advice is required on appeal, this will carry an additional cost.

Experience and qualifications of your representatives

You will be represented by one of the following people:

Mr Arshaid Bashir, the Head of the Criminal Department.  Mr Bashir qualified as a Solicitor in 1997 and is a Director at the firm.  Mr Bashir is a Duty Solicitor and specialises in all aspects of Criminal Defence Law and is the Crime Supervisor.

Mr John Raj, who is a Duty Solicitor, qualified in 2006. Mr Raj specialises in all aspects of Criminal Defence Law.

Ms Louise Brown, who is a Duty Solicitor, qualified in 2010. Ms Brown specialises in all aspects of Criminal Defence Law.

Our Directors are responsible for the supervision of all legal work conducted on your behalf. With all the areas of work we do, we will do our best to give you a clear idea of what the work will cost you.  However, where we are only able to provide a broad estimate of fees, or we cannot estimate what the final costs are likely to be, the work on your matter will be carried out at our various hourly rates for staff.  The basic hourly rates are set out below. These can increase, based on a number of factors, but we will tell you the relevant hourly rate at the start of the matter.

 

	Position	Hourly Rate (plus VAT at 20%)
The experience of the people who may carry out the work for you:	Directors, consultants and solicitors with over eight years post qualification including at least eight years experience	£350
	Solicitors and Legal Executives with more than four years post qualification experience, including at least four years’ experience.	£250
	Other Solicitors and legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience	£200
	Senior Litigation Executives and Litigation £200 Executive	£200
	Trainee solicitors, Paralegals, Junior £150 Executives and Fee earners of equivalent experience	£150