Solicitors costs for court - no legal aid
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would anyone mind sharing how much their solicitor cost/is costing to go to court (guilty plea) and approx location as costs differ ie if youre in north west / Scotland etc
also do you need a barrister and a solicitor or just one?
thanks in advance
also do you need a barrister and a solicitor or just one?
thanks in advance
Hi Jayjay
We are in Scotland and don't qualify for legal aid.. My husband's solicitor has charged about £2500 up front to take him through a guilty plea at the Sheriff Court, although there may be some extra charges for phone calls, emails and letters etc, which can add up rather quickly. On top of that we have also paid for reports from Stop It Now (this was technically a donation) and the therapist.
The charges would be much higher if a not guilty plea was entered and the case went to a higher court. Barristers are expensive.
The legal system is a bit of a mystery to most of us but our solicitor has taken us through each stage at a time, sending reminders about dates and deadlines or clarifying things we are unclear about so we don't inadvertently slip up or fret unnecessarily.
Hope this helps.
We are in Scotland and don't qualify for legal aid.. My husband's solicitor has charged about £2500 up front to take him through a guilty plea at the Sheriff Court, although there may be some extra charges for phone calls, emails and letters etc, which can add up rather quickly. On top of that we have also paid for reports from Stop It Now (this was technically a donation) and the therapist.
The charges would be much higher if a not guilty plea was entered and the case went to a higher court. Barristers are expensive.
The legal system is a bit of a mystery to most of us but our solicitor has taken us through each stage at a time, sending reminders about dates and deadlines or clarifying things we are unclear about so we don't inadvertently slip up or fret unnecessarily.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Ladies.
Its a minefield, I mean how can you actually tell if a solicitor is good or not over a telephone call?! Duty solicitor from day at station seems nice and seems in the know - but how do we know. Do we just stick with him bcos he seems nice?!
Its a minefield, I mean how can you actually tell if a solicitor is good or not over a telephone call?! Duty solicitor from day at station seems nice and seems in the know - but how do we know. Do we just stick with him bcos he seems nice?!
Yes, do shop around. Find someone you feel is committed to doing a good job for you. A good solicitor will not mind talking with you about their experience and particular interests in criminal law.
Thank you. Could anyone else share their costs for a guilty plea?
Hi,
We got legal aid so can't help, I sometimes wonder if that's why are solicitor was not very helpful, but then he did seem to do alot of these cases and just gave up if that makes sense, I wish I had seen all this before our court case
We got legal aid so can't help, I sometimes wonder if that's why are solicitor was not very helpful, but then he did seem to do alot of these cases and just gave up if that makes sense, I wish I had seen all this before our court case
When do you get to meet your barrister Lee? I haven't a clue how all this works. Do you know what the threshold for legal aid is as I looked it up online and thought he would be entitled but they only asked how much he earned and said he wouldn't be entitled to it! I'm devastated as we aren't exactly well off or comfortable
Thanks Lee, chances are he will have lost his job by then anyway.
Costs vary but so does their services. We rang round a few. Some of them didn't even want to have a chat before appointment. One thought we'd instructed them (although we'd just asked for costs and whether they covered such cases)
we found an amazing solicitor though. he is both solicitor and barrister specialising in this so we have knowledge and consistency throughout. He's worked with police to improve how they handle things especially the family members.
I have to say. We're in a fortunate position that we can afford him. Solicitors are not cheap. Ours is around £15k plus expenses.
good luck but definitely call around and get someone that your OH is comfortable with. Trust me that will make a difference on how much they do to support.
we found an amazing solicitor though. he is both solicitor and barrister specialising in this so we have knowledge and consistency throughout. He's worked with police to improve how they handle things especially the family members.
I have to say. We're in a fortunate position that we can afford him. Solicitors are not cheap. Ours is around £15k plus expenses.
good luck but definitely call around and get someone that your OH is comfortable with. Trust me that will make a difference on how much they do to support.
We can't afford anywhere near that amount blackbird and I'm scared :(
JayJay, I don't know costs, I haven't discussed that with my partner. But do as Lee has suggested and look at legal aid. I would suspect a specialist solicitor as mentioned in the previous post is much more expensive than one that isn't specialist. Try not to worry yourself with speculative information, focus on finding out what support you maybe entitled to first.