FIERCE ADVOCACY
POWERFUL RESULTS

OUR FEES

We focus on providing a professional service whilst ensuring a personal touch to the services we offer. Our fee structure is transparent so you will always know what you will be paying.
 

How to fund your case?

 
Debt recovery/litigation cases can be lengthy and of course costly. We offer numerous ways for you to pay your fees, depending on the circumstances of each client and the specifics of each case. This will be assessed by the solicitor working on your matter and discussed with you prior to taking instruction.
 

Hourly Rates

 
Our standard hourly rates depend on the experience and seniority of the fee earner working on your case. If an hourly rate is agreed, we will bill you according to the time spent on your matter; however, we will provide you with fee updates regularly to ensure you are always aware of charges.
 
  • Senior partner and senior solicitors  – £400 P/H
  • Solicitors £250 P/H
  • Paralegals £150 P/H
  • Individual fee quotes will be provided on a case by case basis.

Grade of fee earner

Grade A
Any Solicitor of Legal Executive with over 8 years PQE. Grade a will include Directory

Grade B
Any Solicitor or Legal Executive with more than 4 year’s PQE but less than 8 year’s PQE. Any other fee earner with more than 4 years experience.

Grade C
Any Solicitor or Legal Executive with less than 4 years PQE. Any other fee earner with more than 1 year but less than 4 years experience. Trainee Solicitors shall be regarded as Grade C if they have more than 2 years experience prior to commencement of the training contract.

Grade D
Any Trainee Solicitor or other fee earner with less than 1 year’s experience.
 

Fixed Fee

 
We may agree to charge you a fixed fee for your matter. Our fees will not be based on time spent but an overall fee for the work done- even if more time is required.
 

Conditional Fee Agreement (‘CFA’)

 
These fee arrangements are more generally known as a No Win No Fee Agreements, and our fees depend on your case being successful. If your case is not successful, we will not invoice you for work done, but you will still be liable for disbursements and third party costs.
 
If we are successful in winning your matter, you will then be responsible for our basic fee plus a success fee, calculated to reflect the time and risk spent on your case whilst no fee was paid. This will usually be 50% of the hourly rate of the fee earner working on your file. Please note- the success fee is not usually recoverable from the other side.
 

Alternative arrangements

 
Depending on the case, we may be able to offer you alternative arrangements, such as hybrid arrangements between private retainers and CFA’s. If we think this is suitable, we will discuss it with you.
 

Disbursements

 
Disbursements are costs associated with your matter, payable to third parties. This includes Court fees, Barristers fees, Surveyors fees etc.  We will ask you to pay these into our client account and pay them out on your behalf. 

KEY STEPS IN DEBT RECOVERY AND LITIGATION MATTERS

It is important you are aware of the steps we undertake when dealing with your matter. We will discuss this with each new client, but for reference these are listed below. Our fees will always cover the work listed here.

We act for both Claimant’s and Defendants. The list below is for Claimants, but Defendants will also be required to follow these steps.

  1. Take initial instructions from you. Please bring all relevant paperwork to your meeting so we can advise you comprehensively on the matter, merits, remedies and likelihood of success.
  2. Draft first letter before action.
  3. Review the response from the other side and respond to it.
  4. Discuss the contents with you and write to the other side with possibilities for negotiation or settlement prior to issuing any proceedings.
  5. If we are unable to agree settlement, and the matter is not progressing, we will discuss issuing a claim. (if your retainer with us was just pre-action, we will discuss further fees for issuing the claim).

    Once we agree to issue a claim

  6. Draft Claim form and particulars of claim
  7. When Defendant replies- draft response to defence.
  8. Take steps as per the Court order/s, which includes, document exchange, witness statements and possible hearings prior to Trial.
  9. Agree list of issues, prepare chronology and case summary if required by the Court.
  10. Prepare bundle for Trial
  11. Attend Trial- Counsel will always be instructed.
  12. In some business related matters- we may issue cease and desist letters, statutory demands or other relevant at the commencement of the matter.

How long will it take to complete the matter? 

It really depends on many factors! How much time do we agree to spend on pre-action and negotiation? We pride ourselves on being outstanding negotiators and many of our client’s matters are settled at this stage, without the need to go to Court.

If we are required to issue legal proceedings, depending on the complexity, value and Court it is issued in- it could take between twelve to eighteen months until trial. We will keep you updated throughout the course of your instruction.

What to do next?

Fill out our enquiry form or email us on info@capstonelaw.london and someone from our team will get back to you.