General Legal Costs

All work done by Kidwells Law is charged for on an hourly basis unless a capped rate, fixed fee, insurance funding, or Conditional Fee Agreement has been agreed. We deal exclusively with private clients and do not accept instructions from legal aid for any department.

Our hourly rates are excluding VAT. Legal fees attract a VAT rate of 20%.

The following information is about general legal costs. Please refer to the sections above for detailed costs information relating to specific departments.

Time Spent Fees

Costs are calculated by reference to the time your legal team spends in respect of any work which they do on your behalf. This may include meetings with you and perhaps other authorised persons on your behalf; reading, preparing, and working on papers; making and receiving telephone calls, emails, faxes, and text messages; preparation of any detailed costs estimates, schedules/bills and time necessarily spent travelling away from the office.

Routine letters are charged at six-minute units of time.

We also charge for the time spent making and taking telephone calls and considering incoming letters (including consideration of incoming emails) at six-minute units.

No-Win No-Fee

Only once details of your matter are known and an assessment as to your prospects of success have been carried out will we be able to confirm whether a no-win no-fee type arrangement can be offered. A meeting will be held to discuss how this arrangement will work, what fees you will still have to cover (for example Barrister and Expert costs), and what happens if you win or lose.

Fixed Fees

A Fixed Fee is an alternative to the standard hourly rate, with a fixed price for each stage of legal work. It is not dictated by the time spent. By the nature of the name, the fee is fixed, not a fee that can be varied upwards, nor a fee that is dependent on the transaction being completed.

Fixed Fees are payable at the commencement of the case.

Hourly Rates

Our standard hourly rates are:

• Michael Horne – Solicitor/Managing Director/COLP – £400 plus VAT
• Abby Washbourne – Solicitor/Director – Head of Family & Crime Department – £325 plus VAT
• Amanpreet Kaur – Solicitor – £300 plus VAT
• Caitlin Abell – Trainee Solicitor -£275 plus VAT
• Haranjit Kalket – Trainee Solicitor -£275 plus VAT
• Toby Clench – Trainee Solicitor Apprentice/Head of Conveyancing Bristol Office  – £275 plus VAT
• Jake Nolan – Senior Paralegal – £220 plus VAT
• Joshua Wainwright-Jones – Junior Paralegal – £150 plus VAT
• Nikki Shorto – Licensed Conveyancer/ Head of Conveyancing Cheltenham Office – £300 plus VAT
• Joanna Schwemin – Trainee Solicitor SQE – £275 plus VAT
• Alan Horne – Trainee Solicitor SQE – £275 plus VAT

We will keep you updated regularly regarding your costs. Your costs include: our Charges for time spent on your matter, any Disbursements, Counsel’s fees and other Expenses as agreed.

You will be invoiced on a monthly basis unless otherwise agreed. Invoices will be sent directly from our Accounts Department who can be contacted by emailing Finance@kidwellssolicitors.co.uk

For work that is outside of any agreed capped fee and charged at the hourly rate, we would provide estimates and keep you regularly updated. Requests for monies to be paid on account before commencing the agreed work will be made. Any payment on account of costs is client money and will be held in a client account until a bill has been submitted to you.

Disbursements

Our policy on disbursements is summarised below:

• We do not charge for standard postage costs. Bulky items, couriers, and guaranteed deliveries are charged out at a cost.
• Third-party disbursements include, but are not limited to, Barristers, Experts, Court Fees, Land Registry and Companies House. Please note that our fees do not include any disbursements. If an Expert or Barrister needs to be instructed you will be provided with a list of quotes for your approval prior to engaging their services. We will request monies on account to pay for their services if required. You will be notified of any other disbursements before they are incurred and asked to make payment on account.

Cost Risks

Some litigation carries costs risks which can work for or against you depending upon whether you win or lose. We will inform you of the initial risks associated to your matter in our Letter of Instruction and thereafter throughout your matter.

You will be informed that even if you win your case it does not automatically mean that you will be able to recover the money, or any costs that you may be awarded. You will be advised of this in specific relation to the nature of your matter at the outset and throughout your instruction.

Even if you win your case and you are entitled to costs, this will not necessarily mean that you will be entitled to recover all of the costs incurred. For a variety of reasons there may be some shortfall between the actual costs incurred, and the costs that are recoverable. This will be discussed with you as the case progresses.