In some cases, a comprehensive quote is not possible, in which case we’ll tell you the hourly rate at which the work will be charged. In long-running cases, you may find it easier to "pay-as-you-go" and we can send you interim accounts every month or two. You might also find it useful to tell us at the start, the maximum sum you can afford to pay.

We cannot escape the fact that our costs seem high. The person handling your case will usually be supported by a secretary and possibly by an assistant. The firm as a whole is supported by an accounts team and by management personnel. We have to pay for our office space and, increasingly, for the computers and communications equipment needed to deliver a quality service. Our latest IT programme cost us over a quarter of a million pounds. We have to pass that cost on to our clients, as does any business. We believe that if we cut our fees, we’d have to cut corners somewhere along the line, possibly by not having the most up-to-date books on our shelves. Ultimately, that would have a negative effect on the advice we can give you.

Legal fees are always a hot topic for debate. We recognise this and will try to avoid our clients having a nasty shock when they get our bill.

Where possible, we will give you an estimate of our fees at the outset. We will also tell you about the fees we will have to pay to others on your behalf. For example, if you are buying a house, we will have to pay search fees to about five separate agencies, registration fees to H M Land Registry and Stamp Duty to the Inland Revenue. We call such payments "disbursements".

We ask you to bear in mind that when we give a quote at the start of a matter, we generally don’t know how the matter is going to proceed. If problems arise that could not have been predicted at the start, we’ll tell you. If you want to call a halt at that stage, you can do so, paying only for the work done to date.