Costs

"You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour." - Jim Rohn

The Guideline Hourly Rates (‘GHRs’) for practitioners who cover civil court and tribunal matters are set by The Master of the Rolls each year following receipt of a report from the Advisory Committee on Civil Costs. I have included some relevant details below.

Guideline Hourly Rates (in £) for 2010

Band A Band B Band C Band D

London 1 409 296 226 138

London 2 317 242 196 126

London 3 (229-267)  (172-229) 165 121

National 1 217 192 161 118

National 2 201 177 146 111

The rates for London 3, Bands A and B are presented as ranges and go some way towards reflecting the wide range of work types transacted in these areas.

Grades of fee earner

The grades of fee earner have been agreed between representatives of the Supreme Court Costs Office, the Association of District Judges and the Law Society. The categories are as follows:

Band A -   Solicitors, over 8 years qualified experience.

Band B -   Solicitors or Legal Executives, over 4 years qualified experience.

Band C -   Other qualified Solicitors or Legal Executives. 

Band D -   Trainee solicitors, paralegals and equivalent.

"Legal Executive" means a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. Those who are not Fellows of the Institute are not entitled to call themselves legal executives and in principle are therefore not entitled to the same hourly rate as a legal executive.

Unqualified clerks who are fee earners of equivalent experience may be entitled to similar rates and in this regard it should be borne in mind that Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives generally spend two years in a solicitor’s office before passing their Part 1 general examinations, spend a further two years before passing the Part 2 specialist examinations and then complete a further two years in practice before being able to become Fellows. Fellows therefore possess considerable practical experience and academic achievement. Clerks without the equivalent experience of legal executives will be treated as being in the bottom grade of fee earner i.e. trainee solicitors and fee earners of equivalent experience. Whether or not a fee earner has equivalent experience is ultimately a matter for the discretion of the court.

An hourly rate in excess of the guideline figures may be appropriate for Grade A fee earners in substantial and complex litigation where other factors, including the value of the litigation, the level of complexity, the urgency or importance of the matter as well as any international element would justify a significantly higher rate to reflect higher average costs.

National 1 Regions Band Grade	A	B	C	D
Guideline Rates	217	192	161	118
Aldershot, Farnham, Bournemouth (including Poole)
Birmingham Inner
Bristol
Cambridge City, Harlow
Canterbury, Maidstone, Medway & Tunbridge Wells
Cardiff (Inner)
Chelmsford South, Essex & East Suffolk
Chester
Fareham, Winchester
Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Isle of Wight
Kingston, Guildford, Reigate, Epsom
Leeds Inner (within 2 km radius of the City Art Gallery)
Lewes
Liverpool, Birkenhead
Manchester Central
Newcastle - City Centre (within a 2 mile radius of St Nicholas Cathedral)
Norwich City
Nottingham City
Oxford, Thames Valley
Southampton, Portsmouth
Swindon, Basingstoke
Watford

National 2 Regions Band Grade	A	B	C	D
Guideline Rates	201	177	146	111
Bath, Cheltenham and Gloucester, Taunton, Yeovil
Bury
Chelmsford North, Cambridge County, Peterborough, Bury St E, Norfolk, Lowestoft
Cheshire & North Wales
Coventry, Rugby, Nuneaton, Stratford and Warwick
Exeter, Plymouth
Hull (City)
Leeds Outer, Wakefield & Pontefract
Leigh
Lincoln
Luton, Bedford, St Albans, Hitchin, Hertford
Manchester Outer, Oldham, Bolton, Tameside
Newcastle (other than City Centre)
Nottingham & Derbyshire
Sheffield, Doncaster and South Yorkshire
Southport
St Helens
Stockport, Altrincham, Salford
Swansea, Newport, Cardiff (Outer)
Wigan
Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley & Stourbridge
York, Harrogate

Birmingham Outer
Bradford (Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Keighley & Skipton)
Cumbria
Devon, Cornwall
Grimsby, Skegness
Hull Outer
Kidderminster
Northampton & Leicester
Preston, Lancaster, Blackpool, Chorley, Accrington, Burnley, Blackburn, Rawenstall & Nelson
Scarborough & Ripon
Stafford, Stoke, Tamworth
Teesside
Worcester, Hereford, Evesham and Redditch
Shrewsbury, Telford, Ludlow, Oswestry
South & West Wales

London Bands

Grade	A	B	C	D
City of London: EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4	409	296	226	138
Central London: W1, WC1, WC2, SW1	317	242	196	126
Outer London: (All other London post codes: W, NW, N, E, SE, SW and Bromley, Croydon, Dartford, Gravesend and Uxbridge)	229 - 267	172 - 229	165	121

I was called to the Bar in 2001 as a member of The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. Consequently, by reference to the GHR’s above and by way of analogy only, I would be considered a Grade A fee earner.

However you will be pleased to note that I do not charge Grade A rates!

Whilst I reside in London (and carry out a lot of the work from there), I belong to a Chambers in Southampton and all of my work as a barrister is booked through the Clerks in Chambers. Therefore, my slightly lower administration costs mean that I can pass on the savings directly to my clients.

Wherever possible, I will always try to agree a fixed fee for any work that I am instructed to do. This way you know exactly what will be done and how much it will cost (with no hidden surprises or extras!). Should something take me longer to complete than I had expected - so be it - but you will not be charged any additional amounts for this. However, should a case which was listed for a one day hearing go part-heard and have to be re-listed for another day, then obviously a separate fee will need to be charged for this.

I pride myself on being fair and transparent about costs so please feel free to ask any questions that you may have. It is usually possible to come to a sensible agreement. Ultimately, I’m conscious that most individuals looking for legal advice are doing so because they have some kind of legal problem - the last thing that I want to do is to add to any anxiety that you may already have.

Where an hourly rate does need to be charged (due to the nature of the individual case), this will be set by reference to various factors. Some of these include:

• the amount of money involved in the claim;
• the importance of the case;
• the complexity of the issues;
• the level of court or tribunal;
• the number of parties involved;
• whether there is expert evidence; and
• whether there is any urgency.

Please mention this website when you call my Clerk, Mark Harrison - he is responsible for setting and agreeing my fees with you. 

Also, please click on the Tab entitled 'Courts and Tribunals' which provides further details about travelling and work that is conducted out of area.