Our Fees and The Legal Bits
Our Terms, Conditions and Policies
Our Fees
This section applies if you are formally instructing us to assist you with your legal matter. It does not apply to the service provided via our online consulting service.
We will always inform you in advance of our costs or anticipated costs on any matter on which we are instructed, but for some cases, the costs can vary depending on the subject matter, the complexity of the matter and the stage at which we are instructed.
Our hourly rates generally range from £195 to £265 (we are not VAT registered) and we will confirm the hourly rate when we are instructed. Where the fees cannot be fixed, we will also give you the opportunity of setting a limit on the fees and expenses we can incur in relation to your matter. This means that you have to pay our fees up to that limit but we must ask your permission to continue working on your matter if it looks like you will have to pay more than the limits you have set. We would then write to you before we reach that limit, explain why it will cost more, review my estimate of the like costs and ask you to agree a new limit before we do more work on your matter.
The hourly rate is based on work being undertaken personally by Joanne Lezemore. If your case is to be handled by any other solicitor, we will inform you in advance of that solicitors experience and hourly rates.
We have set out below some examples of a range of costs for guidance purposes.
Initial Consultations
Our fees for an initial consultation will range from £195.00 to £295.00. This will cover the cost of perusing any documents relevant to your claim, and then having a meeting/telephone conference with you to discuss your claim, your legal rights, and what steps you can take to proceed with your claim.
Drafting Terms and Conditions, Contracts and Contract Reviews.
Our fees for drafting of contracts range from £350 (for example, a simple employment contract) to £1500 for complex service contracts or complex terms and conditions.
Our fees for contract reviews range from £245 to £550 depending on the length/complexity of the contract to be reviewed.
Employment Tribunals
Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal:
Simple case: £5000 to £10000
Medium complexity case: £10000 to £20000
High complexity case: £20000 to £30000
Factors that could make a case more complex:
- If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
- Making or defending a costs application
- Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
- The number of witnesses and documents
- If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
- Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing. We do not generally offer representation at a hearing, but instruct Counsel to attend with you. Counsel’s fees range from £250 to £1500 per day, depending on experience.
You may also incur disbursements – these are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Key stages
The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
- Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
- Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
- Preparing claim or response
- Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
- Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- preparing or considering a schedule of loss
- Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
- Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
- Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
- preparing bundle of documents
- Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
- agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
- Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.
How long will my matter take?
The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 6 to 12 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 20-30 weeks. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
Debt Claims for an undisputed business to business dept
Court Claims
These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee (e.g. if a one off letter is required), or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed.
As well as our fees, you will have to pay Court fees, which vary depending on the amount of your claim. A full set of fees can be found at
Our fees are as follows:
Debt value of up to £5000: £295 to £1200
Debt value of £5000-£10000: £295 to £1600
Debt value of £10000-£50000: £395 to £3500
If the value of the debt exceeds £50000 we will inform you of our costs having considered the complexity of the case and the documents involved.
Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:
- Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost;
- You may not be able to recover all or even some of your costs;
- The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
The fees are based on how quickly a matter resolves (i.e. if payment is made by debtor after the first letter before action, or if proceedings are required).
Our fee includes some or all of the following steps;
- Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation
- Undertaking appropriate searches
- Sending a letter before action
- Receiving payment and sending onto you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing claim
- Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default
- When Judgement in default in received, write to the other side to request payment
- If payment is not received within 28 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs
Matters usually take from 3 to 12 weeks from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.
Our complaints policy and procedure
Our complaints policy
We are committed to providing a high quality service to all our clients and hope our relationship with you remains excellent. However, we do recognise that despite best endeavours occasionally problems do occur. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a complaint about our service or a bill that we have rendered or both, please contact us with the details.
The person to contact is J L Lezemore, and she can be reached at:
In writing: 9 Rhodes Avenue, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 3JN;
By email: advice@lezemoresolicitors.co.uk;
By phone: 01279 653011.
What will happen next?
- We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 7 working days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to J L Lezemore who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
- J L Lezemore will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at:
PO Box 6806,Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
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