Although some of our clients are celebrities; you do not need to be a celebrity to afford our fees. We also promise all our clients the following:
- every case is dealt with by a senior solicitor
- your point of contact will always be your own solicitor and we will not pass you off to trainees or assistants as soon as we take your money, like most other law firms do
- you will have access to your solicitor’s personal mobile phone number 24/7 for all emergencies
- your personal solicitor will deal with your case from initial interview through to conclusion including attending all your court hearings
- you will always be dealt with in a professional manner, yet we will always be approachable, sympathetic and efficient
- you are assured of absolute privacy during and after your case, because we do not advertise our clients on our website like so many other law firms
- we can attend any police station in London, Berkshire, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, East Sussex or West Sussex in less than 1 hour from initial phone call
- we carry out urgent work at no additional cost to you
- our initial consultation fee is £100 plus VAT
We also offer Fixed Fee options based on the following factors:
- The type of case
Guilty Pleas start at £600 plus VAT
Not Guilty Pleas start at £900 plus VAT
Appeals start at £1,500 plus VAT
Alcohol related cases range from between £900 to £3,000 plus VAT for a not guilty matter
Dangerous Driving – The fees for defending a dangerous driving prosecution will depend entirely on the circumstances of the prosecution and whether the case will be heard in the Magistrates’ or Crown Court. Fees start from £1,000 plus VAT for relatively straight forward matters
- The facts of your case and the evidence gathering process
If there are many witnesses to support your defence, whilst this may strengthen your case it is also likely to increase the level of the fees you will be asked to pay as taking 10 statements will involve more time on our part than if we only take 1 or 2 statements.
Many cases we deal with involve medical defences. If we have to instruct a medical expert, we will have to pay them for their report and attendance at court although attendance charges can usually be claimed from the court by the expert.
- Location of the case
Our main office is in London although we offer a nationwide service. Our fees are structured to take into account your location and the location of the court as we will charge for our travel time in attending court. We are mindful of keeping your costs to a minimum and will do what we can to keep within the fee bracket we suggest at the outset.
With the exception of guilty plea cases, we are unable to offer fixed fees to our clients. This is because we can often anticipate the direction of a case at the outset but it can go in a completely different direction and frequently does. The most common reason for our requiring additional fees from a client is where a case is adjourned on a trial date. This can be due to lack of court time or due to a request for an adjournment from the prosecution. We know that our clients want certainty about our charges and we will provide this to you at the start of your matter and at regular intervals throughout the process.
Our Hourly Rate
For those cases which do not qualify for a fixed fee, we charge a reduced hourly rate for Grade A Solicitor of £250 plus VAT. In addition we charge separately for phone calls (usually £10) and letters or emails (£10-£20). Added to these will be VAT and also any disbursements such as the costs of instructing a specialist barrister.
Full costs information and details will always be provided to every client at the start of their matter and we will strive to provide you with a fee estimate for your work at the start too. In the huge majority of cases our fee estimates turn out to be accurate.
Defendant’s Costs Order
The primary objective for most clients is to achieve an acquittal or damage limitation. However, if acquitted of an offence, you are likely to be entitled to an order from the court that your costs be assessed and paid from the Court’s central funds.
Guilty Plea/Conviction
If you plead or are found guilty, you will be responsible for payment of your own legal fees which are not refundable along with prosecution costs (Usually less than £500) and possibly also fined in addition to receiving other penalties.
Acquittal
If you are found not guilty after a trial or if the prosecution discontinue their case against you, you will usually be entitled to an order from the court that your costs be ‘taxed’ and paid from the Court Central Funds.
This does not automatically entitle you to a full refund of fees. However, this should result in most, if not all of the costs paid by or due from you being returned to you. This is subject to the amount allowed by the Court being the amount claimed by us. There is little uniformity across the courts and they each have differing views to the reasonableness of our bills when submitted. The attitude of the court to the bills submitted is also something which changes over time. If your bill is not paid in full by the Court, we would prepare representations to argue for a full recovery of costs. However, if such representations do not succeed, it would be open to you to seek a judicial review of the assessment of costs.
Legal Aid
As a general rule Legal Aid is no longer available for motoring offences. It may sometimes be available in cases where the defendant is likely to lose their liberty, livelihood or reputation, where the witness evidence meets certain specific criteria, where the defendant will not be able to understand the proceedings or where there is a substantial question of law involved.
We at Mansouri & Son Solicitors do not provide Legal Aid
No Win No Fee
It is unlawful for any criminal case to be funded on this basis. We therefore can not offer this type of arrangement. We can, however, offer payment plans to suit you and we are able to accept payments by credit or debit card or by cheque.
It is always a condition of our representation that payment of outstanding invoices rendered is made before a final hearing date.
If you or someone you know has been arrested we can act immediately and can be contacted 24 hours a day in an emergency on 07966 259252
To book an appointment please call 020 8401 7352 or email us at info@solicitorsfirm.com
© Mansouri & Son Solicitors 2021