We believe that you should understand how our fees work before you instruct us and throughout the time that we act for you.
We will explain how you will be charged, provide you with the best information we reasonably can about the likely costs of your matter and keep those costs under review as your case progresses.
Our aim is to give you the information you need to make informed decisions about the work being undertaken, its likely cost and whether the next step is proportionate to what you are seeking to achieve.
We offer an initial Discovery Call by MS Teams or telephone call of up to 20 minutes with our Client Care Manager or a member of our support staff.
This gives you an opportunity to provide a brief outline of your circumstances and helps us understand the nature of your enquiry, identify any immediate practical issues and determine which member of our legal team is best placed to assist you.
There is no charge for this initial call.
The call is not a legal consultation, and our support staff cannot provide legal advice about your individual circumstances. If you require legal advice, we will explain the options for arranging an initial consultation with a member of our legal team.
An initial legal consultation can take place by Microsoft Teams or face to face and will usually be booked for up to one hour.
During the meeting, we will listen to your circumstances, consider the information available, discuss your objectives and provide an initial assessment of your position. We will explain the options and processes that may be available to you and the likely next steps.
Any advice provided at an initial meeting will be based on the information available at that stage and may develop or change as further documents, evidence or information become available.
Initial legal consultations are charged at the usual hourly rate of the person conducting the meeting, unless we agree a different fee with you in advance. We will confirm the cost before your appointment is booked.
Different clients need different levels of support. Depending on your circumstances, you may instruct us to provide ongoing representation, one-off legal advice or assistance with a particular piece of work. For some clearly defined services, we may also be able to agree a fixed fee.
Most clients instruct us to provide ongoing advice and representation throughout their matter, or throughout an agreed stage of it.
Where we are instructed on this basis, the scope of our work will be set out in your Client Care Letter. Depending on your circumstances, this may include advising you as your matter develops, corresponding with the other party or their solicitor, preparing documents, negotiating on your behalf, dealing with financial disclosure, liaising with experts or barristers and representing you in court proceedings where required.
We will remain responsible for progressing the work within the scope we have agreed with you and will advise you about significant developments, options and next steps as the matter progresses.
Ongoing representation is usually charged at our applicable hourly rates unless a different charging arrangement has been agreed in writing.
Our agreement to act for you on this basis is sometimes referred to as our retainer. It will continue until the work we have agreed to undertake has been completed, you decide to end our instructions, or we cease acting in accordance with our Terms of Business.
As an alternative to ongoing representation, we may be able to provide one-off legal advice or assistance with a specific piece of work.
This can be useful where you wish to manage some or all of the process yourself but would like advice or support at a particular stage. For example, we may be able to:
We will agree with you in advance the particular advice or work that you would like us to undertake.
Unless a different fee is agreed, one-off legal advice and assistance will be charged at the applicable hourly rate of the person undertaking the work. We will explain the likely cost before the work is undertaken.
Where we are instructed to provide one-off advice or assistance only, we will not take over the general conduct of your matter. We will not correspond with the other party, their solicitor or the Court on your behalf, or go on the Court record as acting for you, unless this is specifically included within the work we have agreed to undertake.
For some clearly defined pieces of work, we may be able to agree a fixed fee.
Where a fixed fee is offered, we will explain:
A fixed fee applies only to the work expressly included within the agreed scope.
If additional work becomes necessary because your instructions, circumstances or the scope of the matter change, we will discuss this with you and explain how that additional work will be charged.
Our current standard hourly rates are:
| Fee earner | Role | Excluding VAT | Including VAT |
| Joanne Houston | Founder, Managing Director & Partner; Collaborative Solicitor | £350 | £420 |
| Georgina Suman | Salaried Partner | £320 | £384 |
| Emma Sanders | Salaried Partner; Mediator & Collaborative Solicitor | £300 | £360 |
| Kate Evans | Senior Paralegal | £240 | £288 |
| Samantha Shotter | Client Care Manager; Divorce & Separation Support | £120 | £144 |
VAT is currently charged at 20%.
Unless a fixed fee or other charging arrangement has been agreed with you in writing, our charges are calculated according to the time reasonably spent on your matter.
Time is recorded in six-minute units. Chargeable work may include meetings, telephone and video calls, correspondence and emails, drafting, reviewing documents, legal research, preparing disclosure and hearing papers, liaising with third parties and other work reasonably undertaken in connection with your instructions.
Where appropriate, work may be undertaken by another suitably qualified member of the team. You will be charged at the applicable rate of the person carrying out that work. This enables work to be allocated at an appropriate level of experience and cost.
Our hourly rates are reviewed periodically. If the rate applicable to your matter changes while we are acting for you, we will give you reasonable notice.
For some services, a different charging basis may apply.
Our current charges include:
The charging arrangement applicable to your matter will be explained and confirmed in your Client Care Letter or other written agreement before the relevant work is undertaken.
Further information about our One Couple One Lawyer / Resolution Together service, including how the process works and how costs are dealt with, is available on our dedicated Resolution Together page.
The overall cost of a family matter will depend on a number of factors, including the complexity of the issues, the amount of work required, the approach taken by the other party, the volume of documentation, whether expert evidence is required and whether matters can be resolved by agreement or require court proceedings.
Once we are instructed, we will provide you with the best information reasonably available about the likely cost of your matter or the particular stage of work we have been asked to undertake.
An estimate is not a fixed quotation or a cap on our charges unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing.
We will keep costs under review and provide an updated estimate where it appears that the original estimate may materially change, including before significant stages such as hearings, conferences, round table meetings, mediation or arbitration.
Where appropriate, we will also discuss the likely cost and benefit of a proposed step so that you can make an informed decision about whether it is proportionate to proceed.
In addition to our legal fees, your matter may involve payments to third parties. These are often referred to as disbursements and may include:
Where reasonably practicable, we will explain the likely amount before the expense is incurred.
We require cleared funds in advance for anticipated disbursements and third-party costs before committing to that expenditure or instructing the relevant third party.
The VAT treatment of third-party charges can vary depending on the nature of the expense and how it is supplied. We will explain the applicable VAT treatment where relevant.
Before we commence substantive work on your behalf, we require an initial payment on account of anticipated legal fees and VAT.
The amount required will depend on the nature and stage of your matter and the work we expect to undertake. It will be confirmed in your Client Care Letter or otherwise notified to you in writing.
Where we are taking over proceedings which have already commenced, we may require a higher initial payment on account to reflect the immediate work necessary to review the existing papers, understand the procedural history and prepare for any forthcoming hearings, court deadlines or other urgent steps.
You will normally be required to maintain an appropriate sum on account throughout your matter. We may therefore ask you to increase or replenish the amount held as your matter progresses, taking into account the work anticipated, the stage your matter has reached and any forthcoming hearings, meetings or other significant work.
Money held on account remains your money until it is properly applied to a bill, disbursement or other amount due in accordance with the SRA Accounts Rules.
The amount held on account is an advance towards anticipated costs only. It is not a quotation, fixed fee, estimate of the total cost of your matter or a cap on the fees, VAT and expenses that may ultimately be incurred.
We generally issue invoices monthly, although we may also invoice at significant stages, on completion or at another appropriate point depending on the work undertaken and the circumstances of your matter.
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, invoices are payable within seven days of issue.
Our normal practice is to retain money held on account of our professional fees throughout your matter rather than routinely using it to pay monthly or interim invoices. You will therefore normally be expected to pay interim invoices separately while maintaining the agreed level of funds on account.
This helps ensure that funds remain available for forthcoming work while allowing both you and us to keep the costs of your matter under regular review.
Before we commence substantive work on your behalf, we will normally require:
The charging arrangement, scope of our work, initial payment on account and costs information applicable to your particular matter will be confirmed in your Client Care Letter and should be read alongside our Terms of Business.
