divorce guide confirmation

To comply with Section 150 of the Legal Services Act 2015 you must be notified of your liability for legal costs and outlays
For this reason please read this carefully and if you wish to instruct us please tick the box at the end to agree with its terms.

Thank you for asking us to assist as your Legal Adviser. We are pleased that you’ve chosen our firm.
As the client you are responsible for the discharge of fees VAT and outlays. All work carried out by this firm or other persons /companies such as barristers on your behalf will incur a charge.

At the date of this notice it is not reasonably practicable for us to inform you of the legal costs and outlays that will apply. Even though we do not know the exact amounts at this time, we must let you know how we calculate legal costs that we will charge.

To comply with the above Section 150 you have to be informed about charges.
We set out the basis on which our legal costs/charges will be calculated now .

If your file is based on time spent our charge out rate for Michael is €285 per hour and €150 for support staff. Value-added tax will be charged in respect of any professional fee. The rate at present is 21%

If your fees are based on an agreed fixed figure for example buying and selling property, a separate Section 150 will issue at the start of your file.
Please note there are occasions when a file goes beyond what was initially quoted for. In that case we will serve a new Section 150 notice as soon as we are aware of extra time and outlays.

There are times when legal advice relates to complex or high-value matters. The High Court rules outline 10 criteria to assist in the calculation of fees in these circumstances. Every case is different but these criteria give some idea in your particular case as to what’s involved.
These 10 criteria are as follows

the complexity and novelty of the issues involved in the legal work.
The skill or specialised knowledge relevant to the matter which the legal practitioner has applied.
The time and labour that the legal practitioner has reasonably expended on the matter.
The urgency attached to the matter by the client and whether this requires will require the legal practitioner to give priority to that matter over other matters.
The place and circumstances in which the matter was transacted.
the number, importance and complexity of the documents that the legal practitioner was required to draft, prepare or examine.
Where the money, property or an interest in property is involved, the amount of the money, or the value of the property or the interest in the property concerned.
Whether or not there is an agreement to limit the liability of the legal practitioner as outlined in the contract between the legal practitioner and client
Whether or not the legal practitioner necessarily undertook research or investigative work and if so the timescale within which such work was required to be completed.
the use and costs of expert witnesses are other expertise engaged by the legal practitioner and whether such costs were necessary and reasonable.