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Choosing between a solicitor and living

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Terrifiedandalone

Member since
June 2024

12 posts

We are currently at the point of choosing to get a solicitor or saving the money should he lose his job over this.



Those who have had a solicitor, how much did they charge? The prices we've had vary so much.



One firm wants £15k for her to do it, £12k for partner of the firm and 10k for the trainee.



another is £250 per hour, £900 up front and £1750 for a second interview of that arises.



The third wants £3,500 and that will cover upto charges being made and one interview.



is this the normal rates? Our knock was on Saturday so still very early but obviously want to try and get a handle on this as he's currently claiming it was an accidental file shared to him (I'm not naive enough to out all my eggs in one basket regarding that)

Posted Thu June 27, 2024 6:28amReport post

Overwhelmed49

Member since
April 2024

56 posts

Hello,

Sorry you are going through this. Solicitorsbare ridiculously expensive, but we couldn't do this without ours

Feel free to message. In my opinion you want to have a solicitor who are experts in such cases. Sadly costs are high xxx

Posted Thu June 27, 2024 7:17amReport post

Bub84

Member since
January 2024

130 posts

Overwhelmed... Do you mind me asking at what stage did you get a solicitor involved? We are 10 months in waiting for cps but hubby hasn't had a solicitor for any of it yet, he said he will appoint one if he is charged? He didn't even have one in interview because he was that adamant he hadn't done anything wrong and that's what he told the police in interview too. X

Posted Thu June 27, 2024 7:24amReport post

Overwhelmed49

Member since
April 2024

56 posts

To be honest we appointed early on. Feel free to message xx

Posted Thu June 27, 2024 8:42amReport post

edel2020

Member since
March 2022

544 posts

The costs do seem to vary a lot and what concerns me is that they don't appear to give a breakdown of what work is being done and what assumptions they are making.

A guilty plea will cost a lot less than a not guilty, for example.

Another thing to bear in mind is where they are in the country. London solicitors are allowed to charge far more than any other area, for the same work.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/solicitors-guideline-hourly-rates

When it comes to pre charge work, I would want to know what they are billing you for. There is a limit to what solicitors can do before the person is charged. Some solicitors say they can do no absolutely nothing. Others do ask for pre charge money, or for a retainer up front. If thats the case, then find out what you are going to get for that money first.

Posted Thu June 27, 2024 11:33amReport post

Inturmoil1974

Member since
November 2022

395 posts

We were around £5000 but she wasn't an expert in the field do I wish we got an expert possibly but at the end of the day my oh may have clicked on a link not knowing what was behind it but he downloaded the app kik for porn and knew it was a dodgy app so he has to take responsibility for his actions, my oh took his redundancy before end of last year got another job but was dismissed when it hit the media, he was suspended on full pay for 4 weeks by then had a new job been there now for 3 months and had no issues it is a 30 min drive away but he felt better working out of our community

Posted Thu June 27, 2024 5:25pmReport post

Ocean

Member since
September 2023

965 posts

We went for the same firm of solicitors that provided the duty solicitor. My son pleaded guilty and had already admitted everything during his arrest. In fact a lot of the evidence came from his own statement. I can't remember the actual costs but I think it was about £500 for the plea hearing and £1,500 for crown court. We didn't engage a solicitor until the charges had been received.

Posted Thu June 27, 2024 9:06pmReport post

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