Fixed Fees in Private Law Family Proceedings

Fixed Fees in Private Law Family Proceedings - 9 Park Place provide innovative pricing in the post-LASPO world

One of the many far-reaching effects of the April implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012 was to remove private law children act cases from the scope of public funding. The altered reality for clients and their legal representatives now involved in these cases is that, if mediation is not successful, the client now has to decide between either representing him/herself or paying privately to do so.

We, at 9 Park Place, have been monitoring the effect of the changes and discussing the position with our professional clients since April. We know that lay clients who would have received public funding only have access to limited funds for legal costs and, equally, the majority of these clients do not want to undertake the advocacy themselves. Our professional clients tell us it is not cost-effective for them to be at court conducting advocacy on cases which can often take much longer than the time estimate would indicate.

So we are pleased to introduce a fixed-fee tariff for junior counsel for directions, half day and full day hearings so that you can provide costs certainty to your client at your initial meeting with them. No more hourly rates or having to phone counsel’s clerk to obtain differing rates. You can effectively out-source your advocacy requirements to us, assured that your client will have the benefit of quality representation from counsel at a fee they can afford. Please contact our family team clerk Lesley Haikney for the rates and details of the scheme.

We are also offering similar innovative pricing models to solicitors in other disciplines so if you think your colleagues in other departments may be interested please invite them to contact our senior clerk Michael Lieberman.