INFORMATION ON LEGAL AID

Stanley Richards Solicitors provides legal aid for family matters, offering advice, assistance, and representation under the legal aid scheme. To qualify for legal aid, clients must pass both the merits test and the means test. The merits test assesses whether a case is strong enough to warrant legal aid, and the means test evaluates the client’s financial situation. For detailed information on eligibility and criteria for family matters, clients can visit the government website at https://www.gov.uk/legal-aid.

Legal Aid is automatically available to parents or individuals with parental responsibility for a child, without the need for a financial eligibility assessment. This legal aid provides free advice and assistance both before and during court proceedings.

It covers various aspects, including:

• Meetings with the Local Authority prior to court proceedings.
• Emergency protection orders.
• Supervision orders.
• Child assessment orders.
• Secure accommodation orders.
• Interim and full care orders.

This ensures that individuals involved in matters concerning the welfare of a child receive the necessary legal support at all stages of the process.

PRIVATELY FUNDED MATTERS

At Stanley Richards Solicitors, privately funded matters are handled under the following conditions:

(a) The client is not eligible for legal aid based on applicable rules. (b) After being informed that legal aid is not available for a specific area of law, the client is advised that they may be eligible with another firm, but chooses to fund the matter privately. (c) The client voluntarily decides to privately fund their case without seeking legal aid, for personal reasons.

The charges for privately funded matters depend on:

• The complexity of the case.
• The time spent on it, including meetings, preparation, correspondence, phone calls, and travel.
• The relevant court or tribunal handling the case.
• Any disbursements (expenses) incurred.

This structure ensures transparency in the fees based on the time and resources required for the client’s case

INFORMATION OF PEOPLE WHO CARRY OUT WORK IN OUR FIRM

At Stanley Richards Solicitors, work for clients is primarily handled by solicitors. In some limited cases, trainee solicitors or paralegals may be involved, depending on the nature of the case. The complexity of each matter determines the level of experience required, ensuring the appropriate professional is allocated to handle it.

In line with legislation, accepted professional standards, our solicitors and fee earners are categorised based on their experience, ensuring clients receive the best-suited legal assistance for their specific needs as follows:

– Solicitors with 8 years or more post qualification experience are classed as “Grade A” fee earners.

– Solicitors with 4 years but less than 8 years post qualification experience are classed as “Grade B” fee earners.

– Solicitors with less than 4 years post qualification experience are classed as “Grade C” fee earners.

– Trainee Solicitors and Paralegals are classed as “Grade D” fee earners.

BASIS OF OUR CHARGES ON TIME BASIS

In the interest of transparency, the current hourly rates for our solicitors and fee earners is based on the prevailing rates recommended by the Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO), which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/solicitors-guideline-hourly-rates. In accordance with the SSCO’s guideline rates, as a solicitors’ firm based in outer London, the current rates for our solicitors and fee earner are as follows:

(i) Grade A Fee Earners: £272.00 p/hour.
(ii) Grade B Fee Earners: £233.00 p/hour.
(iii) Grade C Fee Earners £189.00 p/hour.
(iv) Grade D Fee Earners £134.00 p/hour.

The hourly rates above may change in line with any changes to be made by the SCCO.

Routine letters which we write and routine telephone calls that we make and receive will be charged at 10% of the hourly rate of the solicitor or fee earner acting for the client. For example, if a “Grade A” fee earner is working on a matter at a rate of £272.00 per hour and writes a routine letter, the charge for this will be £27.00. Long letters (exceeding half of an A4 page) and long telephone calls exceeding 6 minutes will be charged on time basis. For example, if a “Grade A” fee earner working at a rate of £272.00 per hour spends 30 minutes in writing a long letter on a client’s matter, the fee for writing such letter will be £136.00.

PAYMENT FOR DISBURSEMENTS

We may incur certain disbursements (expenses) to progress a client’s matter. The client will therefore need to pay for such expenses in connection with their case. Examples of such expenses include Court / Tribunal fees, Medical Report fees, Expert fees, Barristers fees, Interpretation / translation fees, travel costs etc.

VAT

As a VAT registered firm, our charges are subject to VAT. The current VAT rate is 20% as set by the HMRC. Our fees for work carried out for a client without leave to remain in the UK will not usually attract VAT. It is worthy to note that VAT rate may change in accordance with guidelines which may be issued by the HMRC.

VAT ON DISBURSEMENTS / EXPENSES

Some disbursements / expenses arising from the fees of third parties we may use to progress a client’s matter such as Experts, Barristers and Interpretation / Translation fees may also attract VAT. We will ask you to pay these on account (i.e. before we incur them), which is normal practice. All disbursements will be shown separately on our Bill of Costs. Court fees are also not subject to VAT.

FEES FOR ADDITIONAL WORK

We will inform a client if any unforeseen additional work becomes necessary (for example, due to unexpected difficulties or if your requirements or the circumstances significantly change during the course of the matter). We will also inform the client of estimated cost in writing before any extra charges or expenses are incurred.

FIXED FEE

In appropriate cases, we may be able to agree a fixed fee to assist a client where it is possible to estimate the time that will be spent on a matter. This is likely to be the case where the matter is straight-forward, such as advising on a Settlement Agreement for an employment matter. Thus, for example, the fixed fee for a matter that will not exceed two hours will be £500 and a fixed fee for a matter that will not exceed four hours will be £1000.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN A FIXED FEE AGREEMENT

For a Family Matter (e.g. for a one-off hearing relating to Child Arrangement Order)
Any fixed fee we agree to would include:

– Attendance and Preparation, including obtaining the client’s instructions, considering the papers and evidence;
– Taking statements from the client and any relevant witnesses;
– Prepare the hearing bundle, if necessary.
– Providing advice on the court procedures, the available options and the likely outcome for the proceedings.

What is Not Included in our fixed fee agreement (for a one-off hearing relating to Child Arrangement Order)
Additional costs for:

– Fees for any expert, medical report, barrister’s fee, Interpreters’ Fee or Translators’ fee for translating any document in a foreign language, etc.
– Any additional disbursement / expenses for travel costs outside Milton Keynes.

The key stages for a typical family case (for a one-off hearing relating to Child Arrangement Order)
– The client will meet the solicitor or fee earner who is allocated to deal with the case, to provide instructions on the matter.
– We will consider the information and documents provided by the client as well as advice on the court procedures, the available options and the likely outcome for the proceedings.
– Send a Client Care letter as soon as possible but no later than 7 days, to confirm the client’s instructions.
– Assist the client to prepare a witness statements and / or bundle, if necessary.
– Explain the court procedures so that the client knows what to expect on the day of the hearing, including the options available to the court and the likely outcome, taking into account facts specific to the case.
– We will conduct any further preparatory work, obtain further instructions from the client if necessary and answer any follow up queries the client may have.
– We cannot provide a timescale of when a hearing will take place, as this depends on the court listing for that day.
– We will attend court on the day and meet the client before the hearing. The time spent at court will depend on each case. We will discuss the outcome with the client.
– Any further steps which may be necessary, will be subject to additional fees to be agreed.

How long the matter will take
No two cases are the same. Therefore, the length of time it takes for each case to conclude will depend of the nature and the facts specific to each case. The factors that determine the length of time it takes for a case relating to a Child Arrangement order to be concluded will include, but not limited to how the opposing party co-operates with a view to resolving the matter, the court listing on the hearing date, how long the hearing lasts, etc.

WILLS:

Our services in this area of the law is privately funded only. We only have legal aid franchise in family law.

Our fee for will is from £300 plus Vat @ 20% that is £360

There will also be additional £100 for Guardian clauses (this if for clients with minors)

DISCRETIONARY WILL TRUST

Specialist Will – £600 plus Vat per person. For couples, a Mirror Discretionary Will Trust is £1,000 plus VAT.

LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY (LPA):
The costs of setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney will also depend on
how complicated the client’s requirements are. If you want to set up both a
property and financial affairs LPA and a health and welfare LPA it will
cost £600 plus VAT plus disbursement. The disbursements will include the
fees payable to the Office of the Public Guardian which is £82 for each
LPA application to be registered. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only and may not necessarily apply to every case. Each case is unique, and the actual terms and charges may vary depending on the specific circumstances.