Thank you for looking at our services for Motoring Offences. Motoring offences can happen to any individual and the penalties can be serious, with potential outcomes including fines, disqualification or in some cases imprisonment.
If you have been charged with a motoring offence, such as speeding, driving without due care and attention or driving whilst under the influence, you will require professional legal advice to help limit any possible consequences.
Why Us
We have an experienced team who can assist you at what is likely to be a stressful time for you and your family. We will provide advice on what happens next and represent you at each stage of the process.
You will have the confidence that you are our priority, with our aim being that any member of the team is available to speak with you when you need some clarity and certainty at any stage leading up to, during and after your hearing.
We are proud to hold Lexcel Accreditation issued by the Law Society, ISO 9001:2015 and Criminal Legal Aid contract. These involve the firm undergoing a rigorous audit process which ensures we maintain the highest levels of client care.
Pricing
Our fees for dealing with motoring offences can vary depending on whether the plea is Guilty or Not Guilty and the number of hearings involved. We will need to obtain all the facts and details of your personal circumstances and will liaise with the Court and the CPS in advance and on the day of any hearing.
Our fees will typically include:
- Considering evidence
- Providing advice in relation to the plea and likely sentence
- Options available in the event that we cannot advise of the likely sentence, i.e. what options the court may consider when sentencing
- Discussing with you where there may be exceptional circumstances, or a special reasons argument should be made to the court
- Representation at a single hearing
We offer both fixed fees and hourly rates, whereby you will be charged for each hour of work undertaken.
The hourly rates charged are
Partner - £285 + VAT
Associate Solicitor/Filex - £255 + VAT
Senior Executive - £220 + VAT
Paralegal - £160 + VAT
Trainee - £160 + VAT
Assistants - £90 + VAT
Fixed Fees
For the cost of a single hearing at a local magistrates’ court, whether the pleas is guilty or not guilty, our fixed fee is £200 plus VAT (£240 in total) plus travel mileage at 45p per mile plus VAT from our office in Scunthorpe to court. This includes up to two hours attendance, preparation (considering evidence, taking instructions and advising) and representation at a single local magistrates’ court hearing. The above fee is the fee charged by Louisa Smith. If you wish to instruct David Rix then fixed fee is £350 plus VAT plus travel mileage.
This fee will change if the court is not local and further travel time and mileage is expected or if a second hearing is to take place. This will be discussed and agreed in advance.
We will provide price information on any additional services, such as obtaining witness statements, sourcing expert witnesses or advising on an appeal as appropriate.
Exclusions
Our fees are fixed and include the items detailed above, however there may be factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees involved in your case. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.
Factors that may lead to an increase in cost include:
- Instruction of any expert witnesses
- Taking statements from any witnesses
- Providing advice and assistance in in relation to any special reasons hearing
- Providing advice or assistance on appeal
Time Scales
We are not always able to provide timescales of when your hearing will take place as this will depend on the court fixtures and court listing for any particular day. We will make every effort to keep you up-to-date on any issues affecting the time it will take to deal with your case.
Key Milestones
There are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. They may be as follows:
- Meeting with your Solicitor to provide instructions
- Disclosure – where we will consider the initial disclosure provided, with any evidence and provide advice on that basis
- Where an additional cost has been agreed we will arrange to take witness statements
- We will go through the court process with you so you are fully aware of what to expect on the day or your hearing
- We will discuss the sentencing options available to the court
- We will undertake any preparatory work within the time frame of the fixed fee and obtain your instructions
- We will attend court on the day and meet you before being called to be before the court. We would allow half a day for this.
- We will discuss the outcome of the court hearing with you, next steps and any additional costs.
All our staff are supervised. Please visit our staff profiles pages on our website under the header ‘Our People’ or in ‘Services for you’ and clicking on ‘meet the team’ for more information including details of qualification and experience