Solicitors Costs

[Oddbod75]

We are in the process of taking over a business and we have been quoted approx £750-£1250 depending on how much time is spent on transfering it over to us, does this figure seem about right as i thought it was a bit steep and it is the first time we have done this? any advice would be greatly appreciated

[JFKvsNixon]

We are in the process of taking over a business and we have been quoted approx £750-£1250 depending on how much time is spent on transfering it over to us, does this figure seem about right as i thought it was a bit steep and it is the first time we have done this? any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Why don't you get a few quotes, then you'll be able to compare the price with what other solicitors offer.

[Oddbod75]

The letter from the solicitors has only just come to us today so on monday i will be shopping around, thought i would see if i could get any advice from here first

[Nubirth]

Funny how when you have a personal injury the solicitor sends a huge amount of letters out who deal with your claim....up goes insurance for all!

[L00b]

We are in the process of taking over a business and we have been quoted approx £750-£1250 depending on how much time is spent on transfering it over to us, does this figure seem about right as i thought it was a bit steep and it is the first time we have done this? any advice would be greatly appreciated

What work (precisely) does that estimate relate to? Depending on what it covers, it seems suspiciously low to me.

[Chez2]

I asked for some business contracts to be drawn up. Some solicitors were quoting £175/hour but would not give an estimate of total fee. I used a London based business company specialising in business law. They quoted something like £575/hour but agreed to do the task for a certain fee. Reading an email was classed as six minutes of their time. The figures you are quoting sound cheap.

[L00b]

I asked for some business contracts to be drawn up. Some solicitors were quoting £175/hour but would not give an estimate of total fee. I used a London based business company specialising in business law. They quoted something like £575/hour but agreed to do the task for a certain fee. Reading an email was classed as six minutes of their time. The figures you are quoting sound cheap.

 

I mean,

 

Even senior (London) barristers don't charge that rate!

 

Let me guess: they then offerred you "UPVC salesman" discounts on the hourly rate (like e.g. 75% )...or that's what the capped fee is equivalent to.

 

£175/h sounds about right, though I'm surprised they wouldn't give you even a rough estimate. Did you give them enough info to estimate from, or did you just ask a piece-of-string-type "how much is it to..." question?

[Tony]

We are in the process of taking over a business and we have been quoted approx £750-£1250 depending on how much time is

 

[snip]

 

i thought it was a bit steep

 

Compared to what?

 

The costs of getting it wrong are much higher.

[Chez2]

 

I mean,

 

Even senior (London) barristers don't charge that rate!

 

Let me guess: they then offerred you "UPVC salesman" discounts on the hourly rate (like e.g. 75% )...or that's what the capped fee is equivalent to.

 

£175/h sounds about right, though I'm surprised they wouldn't give you even a rough estimate. Did you give them enough info to estimate from, or did you just ask a piece-of-string-type "how much is it to..." question?

 

I'm not dumb you know. I negotiate as a living. Do you really think I would expect someone to read my mind and write a contract I hadn't even explained? I had virtually written the contract but needed to ensure it was legally binding. I needed advice on the legal side of what 'compensation' I could claim and enforce should the contract be broken.

 

I needed to be confident that the person I engaged to do the work was up to the task and understood my needs. I outlined my requirements and asked how this could be done without making any 'mistakes' within English law. The local solicitors admitted that they didn't understand everything and would have to learn on the job. I had explained my requirements on the phone before going for my free consultation. They told me they would consult with their colleages and therefore could not give me an upper limit to the fees. The contracts I wanted were really quite basic in my opinion. If I knew more about law I could have put something together myself after reading up on the Internet. The company I engaged agreed a fixed fee in advance. This was less than an hours fee (plus VAT).

[L00b]

I'm not dumb you know.

Didn't mean to imply that you were for one second, calm down the horses.

 

Mine was a genuine question (maybe poorly phrased, but hey...it was jest more than anything, and not particularly directed at you), because I was (and still am) shocked, both at the hourly rate quoted in one case and at the absence of an estimate in the other.

 

I am regularly asked to provide estimates of legal fees, and can promise you that you (as a client type, i.e. well informed with clearly defined needs, a precise brief and clear instructions) are very much a minority.

The company I engaged agreed a fixed fee in advance. This was less than an hours fee (plus VAT).

I can only hope, for your sake, that they were as good as you suggest they are. Mind you, at that rate, they should be

 

Checking a contract, no matter how simple it appears, for all potential liabilities (not only those you want to know about at the time of enforcement, if it ever came, but also those which you may not know about and which the solicitor should tell you about to avoid any potential professional negligence claim) inside an hour is quite...erm...surprising.

 

Around 3 hours for a 'simple' contract sounds more plausible (which would take you back towards the other rate of £175, for the same total amount more or less). Horses for courses