Below you may ask a real live lawyer now any question regarding a current business or personal legal problem that you have. Legal specialists are online waiting to help you, and of course your general law questions put to qualified solicitors are also welcome. This is the most cost effective method available to obtain legal advice.
This service is also available for our US clients too, just type US LAW Question in to the box when you begin to type.
Scroll down the page for more information about preparing
your question and for an approximation of office based solicitor costs.
Here are some simple rules that you would be well advised to follow to try and keep your solicitors costs down:
1. Do your own research before you consult a solicitor or lawyer.
Search keywords for your legal problem on the internet and make sure
they are properly qualified to deal with your request.
2. Some solicitors will allow you 30 minutes of their time free, though this
free time may now be subject to other clauses such as you must agree to pay
for any letters that subsequently need to be sent, etc.
3. If you have embarked upon actions advised at no 1 on this list you should
have gathered a few pertinent questions ready. Take along any paperwork you
feel is relevant to your case.
4. know what you will likely be paying for your consultation, and ask the solicitor
for his advice regarding this issue. Your defendant will likely be charged
with paying these fees if you win your case anyway. Let the solicitor know
of any restrictions you face in how much you are able to afford. Once agreed
between you – get it in writing.
5. Ask your solicitor to agree to use e-mail only if this will keep down costs
and is suitable for you and your solicitor. They will likely charge you for
phone calls made to you subsequently and also for letters to yourself and other
bodies or individuals involved with your case. Charges for emails most likely
will be lower though this method of contact may not be agreed to as generally
they will not consider the method secure enough.
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The rates effective, though may vary, from 1 January 2009 are as follows: Guideline Hourly Rates for Solicitors/lawyers 2009 /Status Court
Grade A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade A refers to:Solicitors with over 8 years post qualification experience including at least 8 years litigation experience. London 1 £402 £291 £222 £136 Grade B refers to:Solicitors and Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives with over 4 years post qualification experience including at least 4 years litigation experience. London 2 £312 £238
£193 £124 Grade C Refers to:Other solicitors and Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives and fee earners of equivalent experience.
London 3 £225-£263 £169-£225 £168 £124 Grade D Referes to: Trainee Solicitors, para legals and fee earners of equivalent experience. National 1 £213 £189 £158 £116 National 2/3 £198 £174 £144 £109 londion 1
refers to:City of London: EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4 London 2
refers to:Central London: W1, WC1, WC2, SW1 London 3
refers to:Outer London: (All other London post codes: W, NW, N, E, SE, SW and Bromley, Croydon, Dartford, Gravesend and Uxbridge) National 1 Aldershot, Basingstoke, Birkenhead, Birmingham Inner, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge City, Canterbury, Cardiff (Inner), Chelmsford (South), Chester, Dorset, Suffolk (East), Epsom, Essex, Fareham, Farnham, Guildford, Hampshire, Harlow, Isle of Wight, Kingston, Leeds Inner (within 2 kilometers radius of the City Art Gallery), Lewes, Liverpool, Maidstone, Manchester (Central), Medway, Newcastle City Centre (within a 2 mile radius of St Nicholas Cathedral), Norwich City, Nottingham (City), Oxford, Poole, Portsmouth, Reigate, Southampton, Swindon, Thames Valley, Tunbridge Wells, Watford, Wiltshire, Winchester National 2
refers to:Altrincham, Bath, Bedford, Bolton, Bury, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge County, Cardiff (Outer), Chelmsford North, Cheltenham, Cheshire, Coventry, Derbyshire, Doncaster, Dudley, Exeter, Gloucester, Harrogate, Hertford, Hitchin, Hull (City), Leeds (Outer), Leigh, Lincoln, Lowestoft, Luton, Manchester (Outer), Newcastle (other than City centre), Newport, Nottingham, Norfolk, Nuneaton, Oldham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Pontefract, Rugby, St Albans, St Helens, Salford, Sheffield, Southport, Yorkshire (South), Stockport, Stourbridge, Stratford, Swansea, Tameside, Taunton, Wakefield, Wales (North), Walsall, Warwick, Wigan, Wolverhampton, Yeovil, York National 3 Accrington, Birmingham (Outer), Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford, Burnley, Chorley, Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Dewsbury, Evesham, Grimsby, Halifax, Hereford, Huddersfield, Hull (Outer), Keighley, Kidderminster, Lancaster, Leicester, Ludlow, Nelson, Northampton, Oswestry, Preston, Rawtenstall, Redditch, Ripon, Scarborough, Shrewsbury, Skegness, Skipton, Stafford, Stoke, Tamworth, Teesside, Telford, Wales (South and West), Worcester
