ALS&A Charges
We are very conscious that clients want to avoid high legal bills. We always explore the cost benefit with clients and in many cases, we may be able to offer flexible payment options.
The Fee Earners hourly rates range from £121 to £375 +VAT depending upon qualifications and experience.
Although we provide clear and tailored costs estimates depending upon the specific needs of your case, our fees can range between the following:
Residential Conveyancing
£1,500 to £15,000 +VAT depending upon the value of the transaction and disbursements
Commercial Property / Leases
£1,500 to £15,000 +VAT depending upon the value of the transaction and disbursements
Family / Divorce
In a straight forward divorce case, we may be able to finalise all matters at an approximate total cost of £2,000 +VAT and disbursements. This Firm encourages all parties to settle cases early to bring a swift resolution to an already difficult time.
If we are unable to settle the matter early, the costs could range between £5,000 to £15,000 +VAT. We find that most of the Firm’s divorce cases settle within this bracket.
In a complex and high value case, the costs could be between £25,000 to £50,000 +VAT and disbursements. At regular stages, we will review the issue of costs to ensure that there is a cost benefit to the client at all stages.
Children cases can range between £5,000 to £15,000 +VAT and disbursements although if heavily contested this can increase up to £25,000 +VAT and disbursements.
We will consider all funding options including payment plans, or a Sears Tooth Agreement where appropriate to ensure that clients have access to appropriate legal advice even in circumstances where they cannot afford immediate payment.
Commercial / Civil Litigation
We can conduct cases such as Landlord & Tenant Matters, Employment Tribunal Claims, Small Track Claims and/or Debt Recover matters on a Damages Based Agreement. Our fee usually ranges between 25% to 35% of the damages recovered.
Our usual fee estimates for a claim falling within the Fast Track and/or Multi Track can range between £15,000 to £25,000 +VAT and disbursements. Assuming that the client is successful, we will seek to recover most of those costs from the other side.
Alternatively, our fee estimates can range from £500 to £75,000 +VAT and disbursements depending upon the issues and the complexities of the case.
Company Law
We can prepare Shareholders Agreements and advise with regards to company procedures from as little as £1000.00 depending upon the complexities involved. In some cases, this can increase to £1,500 to £3,000 +VAT if the matter involves a high value transaction.
We can also advise in relation to Company procedures and/or mergers and acquisitions and our fees usually range from £2,500 to £15,000 +VAT depending on the value of transaction and the client’s objectives.
Wills and LPA
- £350 +VAT simple single Will
- £550 +VAT simple mirror Wills
- £650 +VAT complex Wills
- £450.00 +VAT per LPA plus disbursements (single person)
- £650 +VAT if having both Health and Finance LPA plus disbursements (single person)
- £650 +VAT per LPA plus disbursements (two persons)
- £1000 +VAT if having both Health and Finance LPA plus disbursements (two persons)
Probate (England & Wales)
We usually find that our Probate matters are finalised at a cost of up to 2.5% and disbursements.
Probate (Caribbean)
We usually find that our Probate matters are finalised at a cost of between 2% to 6% depending on the value of the estate and disbursements.
Immigration Appplication Fees
Visa Applications
- Leave to Remain/ EUSS/EEA Applications
Fees- £1500 +VAT
Part 1 – Take Instructions.
- Discuss and agree fees.
- Take 1st part of fees.
- Prepare client care letter/terms of business.
- Due diligence.
- Prepare questionnaire and make documents required list for client.
- File Management (Attendance Notes, prepare file)
Part 2- Application
- Research
- Collating documents/information gathering.
- Scanning documents for upload.
- Registration and filling of application form.
- Submission of application and application fees (paid online by client)
- Biometric appointment search and booking/ taking payment of appointment (if applicable)
- Drafting Legal Representation (LR)
- Uploading documents including LR and LOA.
- Take remaining fees.
- Return client passport and biometric appointment letter.
Part 3- Post Application – awaiting outcome.
- Respond to further document requests.
- Chase up application when necessary.
- Decision (positive outcome- end of matter)/(negative- take further instructions).
- Leave to Enter /EEA/EU Family Permit Applications
Legal Fees: £1200-£1500 +VAT
Part 1 – Take Instructions.
- Discuss and agree fees.
- Take 1st part of fees.
- Prepare client care letter/terms of business.
- Due diligence.
- Prepare questionnaire and make documents required list for client.
- File Management (Attendance Notes, prepare file).
Part 2- Application
- Research applicant’s home country application centres and process
- Collating documents/information gathering/ research.
- Scanning documents for upload.
- Registration and filling of application form.
- Submission of application
- Take online visa fees from client directly (if applicable)
- Biometric appointment search and booking/ taking payment of appointment (if applicable)
- Drafting Legal Representation (LR)
- Uploading documents including LR and LOA.
- Take remaining fees.
- Give applicant biometric appointment details.
Part 3- Post Application – awaiting outcome.
- Respond to further document requests.
- Chase up application when necessary.
- Decision (positive outcome- end of matter)/ (negative- take further instructions).
- Nationality Applications
Legal Fees: £650- £800 +VAT
Part 1 – Take Instructions.
- Discuss and agree fees.
- Take 1st part of fees.
- Prepare client care letter/terms of business.
- Due diligence.
- Prepare questionnaire and make documents required list for client.
- File Management (Attendance Notes, prepare file).
Part 2- Application
- Research applicant’s home country application centres and process
- Collating documents/information gathering/ research.
- Scanning documents for upload.
- Registration and filling of application form.
- Submission of application
- Take online visa fees from client directly (if applicable)
- Biometric appointment search and booking/ taking payment of appointment (if applicable)
- Drafting Legal Representation (LR)
- Uploading documents including LR and LOA.
- Take remaining fees.
- Give applicant biometric appointment details.
Part 3- Post Application – awaiting outcome.
- Respond to further document requests.
- Chase up application when necessary.
- Decision (positive outcome- end of matter)/ (negative- take further instructions).
- Administrative Reviews
New Clients: £1000 +VAT Current Clients: £750 +VAT
- Taking Instructions.
- Discuss and agree Legal fees.
- LOA, Due diligence
- Take initial payment.
- Perusal of previously submitted documents, Refusal letter and reasons.
- Information gathering (Questionnaire and further document list preparation)
- Fill in online AR form.
- Pay fees online.
- Draft reasons for AR.
- Prepare documents to submit.
- Copy supporting documents.
- Draft cover letter
- Take remaining legal fees.
- Submit evidence.
- Section 120s- statement of additional grounds
Fees: from £1000 +VAT
- Taking Instructions.
- Discuss and agree Legal fees.
- LOA, Due diligence
- Take initial payment.
- Perusal of previously submitted documents, Refusal letter and reasons, past application enquiries and refusal reasons.
- Information gathering (Questionnaire and further document list preparation)
- Draft sec.120 grounds.
- Prepare documents to submit.
- Copy supporting documents.
- Draft cover letter
- Take remaining legal fees.
- Submit S120.
ASYLUM CASES – (Private )– Starts from £1800 +VAT
APPEALS
- Oral hearing (in and out country)
Fees: New Clients – from £1200 +VAT (excluding counsel fee)
Part 1
- Taking Instructions.
- Discuss and agree Legal fees and projected counsel fees.
- LOA, Due diligence
- Take initial payment.
- Perusal of previously submitted documents, Refusal letter and reasons.
- Questionnaire and further document list preparation
- Fill in appropriate appeal form.
- Take signatures and court fees.
- Prepare appeal grounds.
- Copy supporting documents.
- Prepare paginated grounds of appeal bundle.
- Prepare bundle index.
- Draft appeal cover letter.
- Lodge appeal.
Part 2
- Court directions
- Instruct counsel – ASA drafting and hearing- inform client of agreed fee and how and when to pay.
- Liaise with instructed counsel for conference, further documents and arguments.
- Draft witness statements
- Send statements to client for approval and signatures.
- Prepare bundle for ASA/CMR as per directions.
- Submit ASA bundle to all parties before deadline.
- Take final legal fees.
Part 3
- Notice of Hearing.
- Prepare for hearing with client and counsel.
- Supplementary bundle preparation if required.
- Submit Supplementary bundle to all parties latest by 7 days before hearing.
- Have client pay counsel ahead of hearing.
- Attend hearing.
- Paper Hearing
Fees: £800-£1200 +VAT
Part 1
- Taking Instructions.
- Discuss and agree Legal fees.
- LOA, Due diligence
- Take initial payment.
- Perusal of previously submitted documents, Refusal letter and reasons.
- Information gathering (Questionnaire and further document list preparation)
- Fill in appropriate appeal form.
- Take signatures and court fees.
- Draft witness statements and appeal grounds.
- Prepare documents for all-in-one paper appeal bundle.
- Copy supporting documents.
- Arrange and paginate bundle.
- Prepare bundle index.
- Draft appeal cover letter.
- Take remaining legal fees.
- Lodge appeal
Note: London has become very competitive with immigration. This is affecting clients flow and lower legal fees.
Discount applies to clients with multiple applications. E.g., parent and child applicants.
Application Fees, Biometric Appointment Fess, counsel fees and other Disbursements are paid directly by client.
Debt Recovery Fees
Astute Legal Solicitors offer two different debt recovery services for undisputed debts, both of which have different fees associated with recovering your owed debts. Fixed-fee debt recovery service For undisputed debts we offer a fixed-fee debt recovery service, further information can also be found in our debt recovery brochure which is available to download. Our service is designed so that you only pay a fee for the level of service and stage of debt recovery that is required and the fee is dependent on the amount of the owed debt. This means you can decide how much you wish to spend to recover your owed debts. All fees are +VAT.
Stage 1 – Solicitor’s letter and chasing call to your debtor threatening County Court or insolvency proceedings Debt owed Astute Legal Solicitors Fee Less than £1K £55 £1K- £10K £95 £10K plus £155.
Our fee includes:
- Taking your instructions
- Writing to your debtor and demanding immediate payment
- If no payment has been received within 7 days, our debt recovery solicitor will call your debtor and chase for payment • Advising you on next steps and associated costs for progressing to Stage 2 of our fixed fee debt recovery service We anticipate that from initial instruction to completion of stage one allowing a rough timescale of 1 to 2 weeks.
Stage 2 – Issuing a County Court claim or statutory demand against your debtor If attempts at debt recovery have not been successful at stage 1, you may wish to proceed with our next stage of debt recovery. Fees for pursuing our second stage of debt recovery depend on the route taken, which will be advised at the outset.
Route 1 Debt owed Astute Legal fees Court fee Recoverable from debtor (court cost and fixed cost) Less than £1K, £110, £25 – £60, £75 – £130, £1K- £10K, £175, £70 – £410, £150 – £510, £10K – £100K, £275, 4.5% of claim value Court fee + £100, £100K – £200K £350 5% of claim value Court fee + £100 Key stages.
- Will issue a County Court claim against the debtor, which the Court will send to the debtor.
- If no response is received within 14 days of service, Holmes Astute Legal Solicitors will request that judgement is entered against them.
- Astute Legal Solicitors will also seek to recover compensation for your debt Route 2 Debt owed Astute Legal fee £750 – £10K, £225, £10K £350 + Key stages.
- Astute Legal Solicitors will issue a statutory demand to the debtor threatening formal insolvency proceedings if the debt is not paid within 21 days.
- Astute Legal Solicitors will advise you of the debtor’s response (if any) An additional cost of £60-£99 is payable in instances where the debtor is an individual as a third party will be required to send the demand.
For debt recovery using route 1 we estimate that this process can take between 3 and 4 weeks depending on the response of the debtor. Whereas for route 2 we estimate the process to take between 3 and 4 weeks. There are a number of factors for example, settlement negotiations which may take place that can fall outside this process and therefore increase the amount of time taken before stage 2 of our fixed-fee debt recovery process is completed. Stage 3 – Enforcing your claim If your debt has not been settled at stage 1 or 2, our debt recovery solicitors will then take steps to enforce your claim. The table below shows the costs associated with the different enforcement actions that may be taken. If anything falls outside of these costs i.e. debtors evading service of documents and/or making their own applications to the Court, our team will advise you of the exact cost at the time. Enforcement action Astute Legal Solicitors fee, Court fee Application for order that the debtor attends court for questioning £100 Court fee of £55 + process servers fee (approx. £60- £90) Application for Writ of Control – High Court Bailiff (where debt exceeds £600) £100.
If unsuccessful: £66 court fee + bailiff’s fee of £75 Application for an Attachment of Earnings order £100 Court fee of £110 Application for Third Party Debt Order £100 Court fee of £110 plus representation at court (approx. £300).
Application for Charging Order on Debtors Property Charged on an hourly basis of £125 per hour, estimated hours will depend on Court venue. Court fee of £110 plus land registry fee of £40 and representation at court estimated at £300 Our fee includes:
- Advising on the most appropriate action to take for your individual case
- Composing the application
- Further information based on the options taken can be found in our debt recovery brochure, which can be downloaded here. The amount of time this third stage takes can vary significantly depending on your debtor, however we will keep you advised of likely timescales depending on the specific circumstances. As a rough guide, we anticipate the quickest cases to take between 6 weeks through to 6 months or more for more complex cases, or where multiple enforcement actions are required. No win, no fee debt recovery service Astute Legal Solicitors also offer a no win, no fee debt recovery service for stage 1 recovery work. This may be more appropriate in instances where the debt has been outstanding for a long time or where previous attempts to recover the debt have been unsuccessful. Our no win, no fee service means that you will not pay anything until the debt has been recovered, instead Astute Legal would charge a percentage of the total debt recovered, which is agreed with you from the outset. The percentage charged depends on the complexity of the debt owed and our debt recovery solicitors will work closely with you to ascertain the exact percentage that we would charge in the event of successful recovery of your debts. The timescale to recover your debts using our no win, no fee debt recovery service can vary significantly based on the number of steps that are taken before your debt is recovered. Disputed debts Where a debt is disputed Astute Legal Solicitors are able to assist. In these circumstances we would charge an hourly rate of £125 – £350 per hour. The rate depends on the level of seniority of the staff required to deal with the complexity of your case. The amount of time it would take to recover the debt depends on the circumstances and the team would be able to advise you of an indicative amount of time at the point in which you appoint us to recover the debts. As a broad range we would typically expect the amount of time to range from 1 month to in excess of 12 months, with costs varying from £500 to £50,000 or more depending on the level of debt, the complexity of the case and the parties’ attitude to settlement. Key stages in recovering disputed debts included within our hourly rates are:
- Ascertaining a full history of the disputed debt
- Searches against the debtor
- Initial contact with the debtor
- Issuing Court proceedings and representing you Experienced staff Astute Legal’s team of debt recovery solicitors have extensive experience in a broad range of debt recovery services.
Repossession Actions
At Astute Dynamic we offer the following fixed fees (inclusive of vat and court fees) for each stage of tenant eviction up to and including the first and hopefully only court hearing. Accordingly, as long as the claim is determined the first time it goes before a judge (and most claims are) then the fees you see below will be the fees you pay. Please note that the below does not apply to squatters or trespassers as they are not tenants.
Stage 1 – Case review, £250
Whether you are evicting a tenant or tenants due to the expiry of the tenancy (under section 21) or due to rent arrears or other breach of tenancy (under section 8) you will need to initially consider and decide what route you wish or indeed can take. This decision will involve careful consideration of your situation and your paperwork. We are happy to meet with you at our offices to do this or alternatively the case can be reviewed from the paperwork you provide and after speaking with you on the telephone. For case review – £250 plus VAT.
Stage 2 – Service of notice, £150 plus VAT
Once we have considered your case and you have decided how you wish to proceed you will then serve the relevant notice. For service of the notice – £150 plus VAT.
Stage 3 – Court Proceedings, £1,350 plus VAT
Should your tenants fail to comply with the requirements of your notice you must bring your claim to Court to obtain an order for possession against your tenants. The cost of this stage includes any attendance necessary for the first, and hopefully only, consideration of the claim by a judge. For issue and progression of the claim up to the first consideration by the judge – £1,350 plus VAT and court fees. · Stage 4 – Eviction, £250 inclusive of VAT Although the Court would have made an order for possession the tenancy continues until it has been lawfully brought to an end by you via the execution of a valid warrant or writ of possession. To apply for a warrant of possession and organisation of the county court bailiffs and eviction day – £250 inclusive of vat and court fees (based upon you or your agent attending the eviction and excluding the costs of any locksmiths).
For further information or to discuss our fees, please contact the head of department responsible for the service you require.