A guide to keeping control of your legal fees
We understand that costs can be a concern, so we want to help you keep them under control.
For each stage of your case, we will agree a fixed fee for the work, based upon the complexity of the matter and the time we believe your case will take. This offers you certainty and makes it easier to budget.
Understanding your fees
Your solicitor will have provided you with a fixed fee, having considered the circumstances you described and using their professional knowledge and experience to assess the work involved.
When working on your matter, your solicitor may need to:
acquire information and reviewing documents.
apply the law and producing analyses and opinions.
meet with you and other relevant individuals.
communicate with you, our opponents, tribunals or courts, ACAS and others.
prepare documents such as claims, responses, witness statements, schedules of loss and legal submissions.
appear at hearings on your behalf.
negotiate settlement.
The fixed fee will only vary if your case becomes more complex, requires urgent action or otherwise demands significantly more attention than initially anticipated. This happens rarely. You can reduce the risk of this by supporting your solicitor to work efficiently.
If you are paying by an hourly rate, you can keep control of your costs by making the most efficient use of your solicitors time.
Effective and upfront
Good and effective service, clear and upfront about all arrangements and costs. Thank you
Jean
How to help your solicitor work efficiently
Discussions with your solicitor
We want you to provide us with all the information we need and full details about your matter but keeping the information clear and concise. The following tips may help:
Before you speak to your solicitor make a list of things you want to discuss so that you make best use of the time talking about your case.
Stay focused. Keeping discussions on topic will save a lot of time. We understand that legal issues can be stressful or upsetting, and we want to support you by offering the best legal representation we can. Listen to your solicitor and follow their guidance. Our solicitors are specialist in Employment Law. They know from experience what needs to be done.
Make your documents easy to manage
Most of the documents we receive are in electronic format, often sent by email attachment. Reduce the time your solicitor spends on organising documents by making them easy to manage.
Send documents in Pdf or Word format, rather than picture formats such as jpg files.
If you have many documents to send to your solicitor, explain the relevance of each document to the work in hand.
Use the following format to name the electronic files you send us: YYYY-MM-DD followed by a description of the document (eg: 2021-03-25 Payslip of Joe Bloggs). This is the format we use to organise our files.
Ask your solicitor about Clio Connect, an online tool we use where you can view your invoices, send secure messages and upload documents.
Emailing your solicitor
It takes time for your solicitor to read and deal with emails.
Avoid sending numerous short emails where you can.
Be concise when you correspond with your solicitor. Take a few more minutes to make sure you have included everything you want to say without repetition or information that isn’t relevant to the matter. Try to be as clear as you can when writing. Short, separate paragraphs for each point are helpful.
Remember that reading, absorbing and understanding technical or complex points will take even a skilled solicitor a minute for every 50 to 75 words (or 5 to 6 minutes per page)
GET IN TOUCH
Do you have a legal matter you'd like to discuss with us? Get in touch using the details below or use the form here and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss your enquiry.
Address: Spencer Shaw Solicitors Limited
St Mary's House, 68 Harborne Park Road,
Harborne, Birmingham, B17 0DH
Opening hours:
Monday - Friday 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays - Closed
Keep in touch
