This information set out below is to assist you to understand our legal fees, the key stages involved in prosecutions for road traffic offences which can only be tried in the Magistrates’ Court otherwise known as Summary Only Matters. As provided in our services page, these include:
- Drink driving
- Speeding
- Speed Cameras
- Mobile Phones
- Commercial Vehicles and Road Haulage offences
- Driving Licence Restoration
- Penalty Points
- Disqualification (totting up)
- Notice of Intended Prosecution
Please note that we do not provide public funding. All of our work is conducted on a privately funded basis.
The Lawyer responsible for dealing with your case will be Mr Craig Gee, Director of the firm. He is a Solicitor with over 30 years experience in this type of work.
We can provide you with an initial fee consultation with no obligation. In that consultation we can ascertain the details of your case, having been informed of the details of your case we shall provide you with an estimate of our costs to prepare and represent you in the Magistrates’ Court.
It is difficult to set out here precisely what the costs will be for different cases as there are many different factors which may change the amount of costs to be incurred.
Some of these factors are set out below:-
- Whether you are seeking one-off advice to consider your options
- The quantity of papers/statements that need to be considered as supplied by either the Prosecution or yourself.
- Whether you are pleading guilty or not guilty.
- Whether the case has already started e.g., you have attended an initial hearing but the case is now listed for Trial.
- The number of witnesses both for the Prosecution and for the Defence.
- The number of witnesses that need to be interviewed for statements to be taken.
- The number of statements and other documents that need to be prepared.
- The number of hearings that are likely to be listed at the Court and the nature of those hearings.
- Whether the matter raises any unusual points of law.
- Whether any expert witnesses are to be instructed.
Hourly Rate
We can inform you that our hourly rate is £240 per hour plus VAT (at 20%).
This hourly rate is charged for attendances, preparation and advocacy. We charge only half of this rate for any travel and waiting. In addition, there will be disbursements. Such disbursements typically will include mileage to be charged if the Court is outside Greater Manchester and parking fees.
For advice only – typically one hour then £240 plus VAT at 20%.
For representation at Court for one hearing on a guilty plea to advance mitigation between £500 and £1,000 plus VAT at 20%.
For preparing your case for Trial and providing representation at the Trial then due to the wide variations of the types of cases and whether experts or counsel are required then there is a wide various in the fees to be charged which would range from £1,500 to £4,000 plus VAT at 20% plus the costs of any disbursements.
Other Disbursements
If for example it is necessary to instruct an expert e.g., an accident investigator or a drug testing clinic for a forensic toxicologist to undertake a back calculation. These fees vary widely and can be several hundreds of pounds. We will however obtain a quotation from any such expert and inform you of the costs of this in advance before instructing the expert to proceed.
We may also instruct Counsel (a Barrister) to represent you at the hearing in more complex cases. Again the fees for Counsel varies significantly depending upon the experience of the Barrister and the number of years that the Barrister has been called to the Bar. Again we would obtain a quotation from the Barrister’s Chambers and agree that quote with you in advance before instructing the Barrister further.
Key Stages
Clearly the initial stage will be to attend upon you to record as much information as is available about your case. Then to advise you upon your options and prospects. If then further instructed to assist you in the case to undertake the necessary preparation and arrangements for representing you at the Court to include communications with the Crown Prosecution Service and any witnesses and where appropriate, preparing instructions to any expert witnesses or instructions to Counsel. Representing you at the Court for any initial hearings e.g., to submit your plea and further representation to enter a plea in mitigation if you are pleading guilty or to represent you upon your defence if you are pleading not guilty.
Unforeseen Circumstances
If any unforeseen circumstances arise which means that additional work has to be undertaken over and above the work that had been anticipated and agreed with you then we shall inform you of this and provide you with revised cost information. If on the contrary there is less work to do e.g., if the Prosecution withdraw the charge and your case does not proceed to a Court hearing then we will give you credit for the time saved and of course a rebate upon the costs previously agreed with you for representing you at Court.
Please note that we do not undertake any work of this nature on a no win, no fee basis.
How long will it take
As indicated above, different types of cases may take longer than others. It is difficult therefore to be precise. If, as is likely in most cases, you have received a Summons then of course the date of hearing will be provided for on that document. If you are to plead guilty at that hearing then it is likely that the case would be concluded at that hearing. The only exceptions to this being where the case is so serious that the Court feels it is necessary to request reports from the Probation Service. In those cases where you are to enter a not guilty plea at the First Hearing then the case will be further adjourned to a date for Trial. This is likely to be several months thereafter. It is not possible to be precise as the length of the adjournment would depend to a great extent upon the length of the Trial hearing. The Court can allocate time for a shorter hearing much sooner then a Trial of longer duration e.g., 2 days.
We are happy to provide you with more information regarding the above either by enquiry on the telephone or in an initial consultation.
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