Worried about the Cost?
A client guide on fixed fee & free Interviews
Fixed fee interviews
“How much will it cost me?” is often the first question clients ask when considering whether to seek legal advice. For your peace of mind, Thomas Dunton can offer a fixed fee interview, to enable you to talk through your concerns with a specialist lawyer, while knowing exactly what it will cost.
Why would I use this service?
- An opportunity for you to explain your concerns to a lawyer.
- To ascertain whether you need to take any urgent action.
- To assess whether it would be worthwhile for you to instruct a lawyer.
- To find out what future costs might be involved.
- To discover what services are available to you and the fee structure that would apply.
- To decide whether we can represent you and if you wish to instruct us.
- You are under absolutely no obligation to engage Thomas Dunton
When Can We Offer A Fixed Fee Interview?
Suitable subjects would include the following:
- Family Law including divorce, civil partnership, cohabitational relationship, finance (including pensions), children
- Collaborative law, Personal litigation, employment law, housing law, intellectual property rights and civil mediation
- Commercial litigation and some aspects of advice for existing businesses.
Detailed advice cannot be given at this stage.
In Personal Injury cases, the first interview is usually without charge.
When Is A Fixed Fee Inappropriate?
If you are already involved in court proceedings and need to instruct a lawyer to represent you in those proceedings or if you require work to be carried out urgently.
How Long? How Much? When Do I Pay?
For Family matters we can offer:
- 30 minute initial appointment £75+VAT
- 1 hour appointment £150+VAT
For other disputes half an hour would probably not be long enough for a more complex matter, so an hour appointment is available for £100+VAT.
In all cases full payment must be made on the day of the interview by cash or cheque. Please ensure you obtain confirmation of cost when you telephone for an appointment, as fees are subject to change from time to time.
Free Advice?
Yes, in some cases we can offer you an initial appointment without any charge at all! These would include:
- Business Start-ups
- Advice on certain aspects of existing businesses
- Personal Injury Claims
Please make sure you confirm this is a free appointment when you book.
Would you like us to quote?
In addition, there are certain services for which we can give you a quotation or an estimate for the work we undertake on your behalf. These include:
- Residential property sale and purchase
- Residential property re-mortgage
- Residential leases
- Wills (except complex Wills)
- Change of name deeds
Public Funding
Legal Aid is available in certain circumstances.
Thomas Dunton are accredited to carry out publicly funded work in specific circumstances, in specific areas of law being Debt, Divorce, Family, Child Care, Employment, Housing and in limited circumstances Personal Injury.
Eligibility is subject to two tests: a means test and a merits test. We can assess whether you might be eligible over the telephone depending on your income and assets.
What Thomas Dunton can do for you
We have a team of specialist family & commercial lawyers who take pride in giving straightforward legal advice to their clients.
