Experience you can afford to trust

Our fee arrangements reduce uncertainty so you can make better, more informed decisions.

Instructing a lawyer can be costly. Our aim is to ensure that you can afford your legal advice, while maintaining a quality service from beginning to end. We want to be transparent about costs and in some cases offer fixed fee arrangement to reduce uncertainty so you can make more informed decisions.

Our system aims to reach the best results for our clients quickly and economically. In some cases we offer a straightforward fixed fee arrangement rather than billing by the hour. In these particular cases, this helps you make a more informed decision about whether and how you would like us to advance your case.

What are we offering?

We offer INITIAL FIXED FEE CONSULTATIONS for £240 inc VAT. This covers a first consultation of up to an hour with one of our family lawyers to discuss your case and our initial advice. Some clients may be entitled to assistance under the Scottish Legal Aid Board schemes in some categories of cases.

You and your lawyer will then agree a plan of how your case is to be handled thereafter. You may be given a fixed fee proposal that sets out the work to be included, and what may be excluded, and how the fee is to be paid. Other cases may not be appropriate for a fixed fee. In other cases we may be able to provide our services under legal aid. Whatever your circumstances we can find a costs arrangement to suit you and we will set this out in writing in our Terms of Business after which we get to work resolving your matter.

Fixed fees may not be suitable in every situation in which case our fees will be based on the time and responsibility involved in the work. For instance, it is unlikely that a fixed fee can be quoted if you have a complicated case with complex legal issues and uncertain outcomes, or if you and your ex-partner are involved in a dispute with high levels of conflict.

What is not included in a fixed fee quote?

Expenses we incur on your behalf are known as outlays and are quoted over and above any quote for our professional fees. Outlays can include expenses such as Court fees and expert reports or land reports needed in conveyancing transactions. Where possible we try to give you an estimate of what these outlays may be.

In special circumstances, there may also be specific exclusions. We always discuss these with you and detail them in our Terms of Business.

What are variations from the fixed fee and how are they handled?

Any fixed fee arrangement is based on your original instructions. Not surprisingly cases can change, for instance if the issues in dispute that were originally discussed change significantly or if a third party joins the proceedings. Sometimes these unforseen changes mean significantly more work for us and we think it is fair and reasonable to propose a variation in a previously quoted fixed fee to reflect new scope of work such as this. Similarly if a matter settles much quicker than anticipated, we do not charge you for work we did not do.

We let you know in writing if we are proposing a variation. You then have the option of accepting or rejecting the revised fee. If we agree on the variation, we proceed. If not, you can cancel your instructions.