Price and service information

Navigating the complexities of UK immigration law requires expert guidance and a thorough understanding of evolving regulations. At Moore SGD Law, our dedicated immigration team, led by Mark Barnett, brings a wealth of experience to businesses, families, and individuals seeking tailored immigration advice. With over 20 years of post-qualification experience, Mark specialises in business immigration, high-net-worth clients, and their families, working closely with private client teams to ensure seamless support. His expertise spans sponsor licence applications, investor and innovator visas, family applications, and European Settlement Scheme applications.

Our team also includes Rebecca Hone and Joseph Choudhary, both highly skilled immigration solicitors with extensive experience. Rebecca advises businesses, from SMEs to global corporates, on securing and managing sponsor licences, restructuring compliance, and transferring overseas staff. She also supports high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs in achieving settlement and UK citizenship. Joseph’s prior experience as a Home Office Presenting Officer equips him with invaluable insight into the application process, enabling him to guide businesses, organisations, and individuals through a broad spectrum of immigration matters, from work and family visas to Indefinite Leave to Remain and British nationality applications. Together, our team delivers strategic, effective solutions to help you achieve your immigration objectives.

As part of our representation in your matter, we will carry out some or all of the following work:

• Providing you with expert advice throughout the process of preparing the application with respect to the requirements of the Immigration Rules.
• Providing you with advice as to alternative options should you not fulfil the relevant criteria for an application to be successful.
• Providing you with a detailed schedule of supporting documents specific to your application.
• Considering the documents which you provide to us and then advising you on whether these documents provided are sufficient to comply with the Immigration Rules or whether they need to be amended or substituted for alternative documents.
• If appropriate, providing assistance with obtaining further evidence needed in support of an application.
• Drafting and providing templates for supporting documents required under the rules for you to use as part of your application.
• Drafting and preparing your application, whether online or in paper format, based on your response to our detailed questionnaire, as well as a detailed letter of representations to be submitted in support.
• Providing advice about the outcome of your application and any further steps that you will need to take.
• The fees shown below will not include the following and will be charged separately:
• Initial advice provided as part of any consultation that you may have with us. We would usually have an initial chargeable consultation so that we can obtain detailed instructions from you regarding your specific circumstances and objectives in terms of obtaining Indefinite Leave to Remain and British Nationality, prior to us deciding which application is the most appropriate to make or to assess whether you actually meet the basic requirements of a specific application.
  This initial consultation will be based on a fixed fee of between £495 to £750 plus 20% VAT, if chargeable, and will cover up to a fixed amount of time of between 1 and a half hours to 2 hours.
• Representing you in relation to any appeals or administrative reviews should your application be refused.
• Any post-submission work such as contacting UK Visas and Immigration about the progress of your application.

Timescales for applications made under the immigration rules

Firstly, there is the preparation time to factor in, which will vary depending on how quickly it takes for the applicant to provide the necessary documents and information e.g., delays may occur if there is a lack of available English language or Tuberculosis tests. To ensure a successful outcome for applications made under the immigration rules, preparation and timescales should not be rushed. On average, 2-4 weeks are required to adequately prepare an immigration application.

Once submitted, processing times for immigration applications vary depending on the type. The Home Office provides average processing times for in-country and overseas applications.

If the Priority Visa Service is available for purchase, this should expedite processing to 5 working days following the date of the biometric appointment.

There are longer processing times for certain types of immigration applications:

• Citizenship applications (applications for naturalisation or registration under the British Nationality Act 1981): 6 months or longer, with no option to purchase a service to expedite processing.
  • In most cases, the applicant may retain their original passport and is free to travel during application processing.
• Indefinite leave to remain applications: 6 months.
  • Priority service (£500): expedites processing to 5 working days, following the date of the biometric appointment.
  • Super Priority service (£1,000): expedites processing to 1-2 working days, following the date of the biometric appointment.

For all types of Home Office applications/requests, processing times are only an indication and delays may occur for various reasons outside of our control, e.g. there is an increase in visa applications, further information is requested, the Home Office has requested an interview, etc.

Sponsor licence applications and business immigration work

Stage 1: Sponsor licence application timescale

Initially, we will provide you with a list of required documents and an application questionnaire, following which we will work together to assemble all required documents and information. Once submitted, standard processing times are anywhere up to 8 weeks. There is the Pre-Licence Priority Service, which if available for purchase at the time of submission, expedites processing times to 10 working days.

Stage 2: Post-sponsor licence work timescale

Each sponsored worker must be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) prior to applying for their sponsored work visa, which we will advise on and prepare. For an overseas candidate, processing times for a Defined CoS should be 1-5 working days. If an additional CoS is required for an in-country applicant, processing times for an additional Undefined CoS can take up to 18 weeks (with the Priority service, if available for purchase, expedites to 5 working days). When preparing your licence application, we will apply for a sufficient allocation of Undefined CoS’, to avoid any delay caused by the 18-week processing time for an additional Undefined CoS.

From the point of instructing Moore Kingston Smith to a visa candidate obtaining immigration permission, this process is likely to take anywhere from 2-4 months, depending on whether or not your business already holds a valid sponsor licence and has a sufficient CoS allocation. Contact our expert team for more information on application timescales.

Mark Barnett | Partner – £565 per hour (plus VAT)

Mark is a specialist UK immigration lawyer with over 25 years’ experience, focusing on business, corporate and personal immigration.

He provides strategic advice to businesses, families and high net worth individuals, tailoring his approach to maximise the success of immigration applications. Mark’s clients include hotel groups, care homes, venture capital companies and record companies and artist management companies.

Rebecca Hone | Director – £450 per hour (plus VAT)

Rebecca is a director in the immigration team. She is an experienced immigration solicitor with 10 years’ experience working in the field of UK immigration.

Rebecca guides businesses through the intricate process of applying for a sponsor licence to employ migrant workers. Rebecca works with a range of clients, including SME’s, start-ups, charities, non-profits, and global corporates, advising on the correct manner for the incorporation and structuring of their UK entities, to satisfy sponsor licence requirements and allow for the transfer of their overseas staff/new hires to the UK.

Once granted, Rebecca advises companies on utilising their licences to hire sponsored workers and retain them as staff, while staying compliant to prevent Home Office enforcement action. This includes providing bespoke advice on the sponsor licence implications resulting from a merger, acquisition, or other business restructuring, and assisting with the transfer of sponsored workers to new entities.

Rebecca also specialises in private individual immigration, advising high net worth and entrepreneurial individuals (and their dependent family members) on the most suitable path to acquiring settlement and/or UK citizenship or assisting them with applications to visit the UK for business or leisure.

Joseph Choudhury | Solicitor – £345 per hour (plus VAT)

Joseph is a solicitor in the immigration team. Joseph assists with advising and representing companies and organisations of various sizes, as well as family offices and private individuals on their UK immigration issues and objectives when entering or staying in the UK and also advises businesses how to comply with the ever changing landscape of immigration legislation.

Disbursements -These are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as visa or Home Office fees, Priority Service Fees , Immigration Health Surcharge.

Additional time spent dealing with matters that arise after we are formally instructed ,which may adversely effect or delay the application and which were not disclosed by the client.

• If your application is refused, advice and assistance in relation to any appeal, administrative review, re-submission or Judicial Review.
• Dependent applications, unless specifically quoted for
• Post submission issues such as processing delays, BRP card issues, subject to that covered by the initial post submission period as specified in the client care letter.

To assist our clients in applying for a sponsor licence to employ migrant workers, we divide the business immigration process into two distinct stages. Firstly, the sponsor licence application and secondly, the ongoing use of the sponsor licence to sponsor migrant workers.

Stage 1: Sponsor licence application

Our work includes the following, up to the point of receiving a decision on a sponsor licence application:

• Advising on your eligibility and the most appropriate type of licence, to meet the needs of the business.
• Advising on the supporting documents and information required in support of the licence application.
• Review and consideration of your supporting documents and information, with bespoke feedback and advice.
• Drafting the licence application and guiding you through submitting the application.
• Drafted detailed legal representations, tailored to your circumstances, in support of the licence application with reference to the supporting documents and the Immigration Rules.
• Compiling and sending the licence application pack to the Home Office.
• Should it become necessary, corresponding with the Home Office to address any additional queries, to enable processing of the licence application.

Stage 2: Sponsor licence management, sponsorship duties, and Certificates of Sponsorship

Following a successful sponsor licence application, we will advise you on using your licence to sponsor migrant workers. We will liaise with Key Personnel (Authorising Officer, Key Contact, Level 1 and/or Level 2 User/s, and sponsorship visa candidates) on the following matters:

• Accessing your sponsor licence via the Sponsorship Management System (‘SMS’).
• The ongoing sponsorship reporting and record-keeping duties to remain compliant and avoid enforcement action.
• The type of Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) required for a sponsorship candidate.
• Applying for (if necessary), drafting, and assigning the candidate’s CoS via the SMS, including advising on eligible occupations and salary requirements to comply with the Immigration Rules.
• Any necessary change of circumstances requests (including reporting an acquisition, merger, take-over, restructuring, adding/removing a branch, etc.), migrant activity reporting, CoS allocation renewal/increase requests, etc. on your sponsor licence.

This list is intended to give you an idea of the most common tasks involved in applying for a sponsor licence and following a successful application, sponsoring migrant workers, managing your sponsor licence and complying with your sponsorship duties. The actual work required will depend on your circumstances and the needs of your business. We will agree an outline for our engagement with you prior to commencing the required legal work.

We charge on a time-spent basis which means that we will only charge you for work we have undertaken on your immigration matter. We offer an initial 30-minute telephone consultation at no charge, to gather background information and determine the most appropriate course of action. During this consultation, we will provide an overview of the work required.

We will always agree a fee estimate with you before starting work, based on our hourly rates. The fee estimate will be reviewed as your matter progresses and if at any time it becomes apparent that more time will be needed to complete the work (for example if additional ad hoc queries arise, there are issues compiling the mandatory documents/information, etc.), we will discuss a revised fee estimate with you before proceeding. You are welcome at any stage to request a time-sheet showing the time spent attending to your matter and the tasks undertaken.

The hourly rates at which our time is charged depends on the experience of the individual who works on each task. See our team section for the hourly rate of each individual who may work on your matter. We do review our hourly charging rates on a periodic basis, and you will be given advance notice of any such change.

VAT

A note on value added tax (VAT) – VAT charged at 20% is payable on our hourly rates unless specifically stated. However, charging VAT in relation to immigration matters may depend on where you live / where your business is based and what immigration permission you have. We will confirm whether VAT (at a rate of 20%) is applicable when you instruct us.

Service charge

We will also apply a 2% (plus VAT) service charge to your professional fees. This charge serves a crucial purpose towards covering essential rising costs in compliance, technology and support services. These encompass a wide range of areas including anti-money laundering and GDPR legislation, sanctions checks and data security requirements, as well as electronic media, data storage and data portal charges.

Disbursements costs for sponsorship

Disbursements are costs related to your immigration matter that are payable to third parties, such as sponsorship and visa application fees. Our fees do not include disbursements, which must be paid directly to the Home Office. Disbursements for sponsorship immigration matters normally include:

• Sponsor licence application fee (small**/charitable business): £536
• Sponsor licence application fee (medium-large business): £1,476
  ** To qualify as a small business, at least two of the following must apply:
  • UK annual turnover is £10.2 million or less;
  • Total assets in UK are worth £5.1 million or less; or
  • There are no more than 50 employees in the UK.
• Pre-Licence Priority Service (OPTIONAL): £500
• CoS assignment fee: £239
• Immigration Skills Charge: £364 (small/charitable business) / £1,000 (medium-large business) per year of sponsorship
• Post-Licence Priority Service (OPTIONAL): £200

Please note that Home Office sponsorship disbursements are subject to increase. These are normally incurred on an annual basis but can be more frequent depending on changes in UK immigration policy. Details of up-to-date sponsorship disbursements can be found on the Home Office website.

If a translator or independent expert is required, this must be arranged and paid for independently.

We assist with applications for individuals made under the immigration rules, including but not limited to applications for:

• Spouse, Civil Partner, and Unmarried Partner visas, including Fiancé(e) or Proposed Civil Partner visas.
• Sponsored work/study visas under the Points-based system, including Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility visas.
• Dependent family member visas under the Points-based system.
• Graduate visas.
• UK Ancestry visas.
• High Potential Individual (HPI) visas.
• Global Talent visas.
• Innovator Founder visas.
• Start-up visas.
• Indefinite leave to remain.
• Pre-settled/Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme, for eligible applicants who have reasonable grounds to apply after the deadline of 30 June 2021.
• Applications for naturalisation or registration under the British Nationality Act 1981 i.e., Citizenship applications.
• Standard Visitor visas for tourism or business.
• Further Leave to Remain applications, including extensions in the Entrepreneur, Investor, and Scale-up visa categories.

Our work includes the following, up to the point of advising the applicant on the outcome of your application:

• Guidance on the application process (depending on country of application), the documents and information required in support of the application, and eligibility and requirements for any dependent family member/s.
• Ongoing review and consideration of the applicant’s supporting documents and information, with bespoke written feedback and advice.
• Telephone calls with the applicant throughout the process of preparing the application, with updates on timelines and next steps.
• Drafting and submitting the application form/s.
• Drafting detailed legal representations in support of the application with reference to supporting documents and the relevant sections of the Immigration Rules.
• Sending the legal representations and application documents to the Home Office.
• Assisting with booking the applicant’s biometric appointment (if required).
• Following receipt of a decision, informing the applicant on the outcome of their application, entering the UK to comply with the terms of their visa (if applicable), collecting their Biometric Residence Permit (if applicable), registering their UKVI online account and e-Visa, and proving their right to work and live in the UK.

We charge on a time-spent basis which means that we will only charge you for work we have undertaken on your immigration matter. We offer an initial 30-minute telephone consultation at no charge, to gather background information and determine the most appropriate course of action. During this consultation, we will provide an overview of the work required.

On average, preparing applications made under the Immigration Rules can take anywhere between 3 to 10 hours of work to complete, per application. The exact number of hours it will take depends on the circumstances in your case e.g.:

• The amount of supporting evidence that we need to consider.
• Which language(s) you speak.
• Whether you are applying with other dependants.
• Whether documents require translation.
• Whether any documents are missing and how long it will take to obtain the missing documents.

The likely range of costs for our fees to prepare an application made under the Immigration Rules is £1,350 – £4,500 (plus VAT, if applicable), plus a 2% service charge (plus VAT, if applicable). In addition, clients must pay the application disbursements directly to the Home Office.

If all requested supporting documents and information are provided in the first instance and clearly meet the relevant section/s of the Immigration Rules, our legal costs are likely to be at the lower end of this range i.e., 3-6 hours, per application.

The hourly rates at which our time is charged depends on the experience of the individual who works on each task. See our team section above for the hourly rate of each individual who may work on your matter. We do review our hourly charging rates on a periodic basis, and you will be given advance notice of any such change.

The fee estimate will be reviewed as your matter progresses and if at any time it becomes apparent that more time will be needed to complete the work (for example if additional ad hoc queries arise, there are issues compiling the mandatory documents/information, etc.), we will discuss a revised fee estimate with you before proceeding. You are welcome at any stage to request a time-sheet showing the time spent attending to your matter and the tasks undertaken.

VAT

A note on value added tax (VAT) – VAT charged at 20% is payable on our hourly rates unless specifically stated. However, charging VAT in relation to immigration matters may depend on where you live / where your business is based and what immigration permission you have. We will confirm whether VAT (at a rate of 20%) is applicable when you instruct us.

Service charge

We will also apply a 2% (plus VAT) service charge to your professional fees. This charge serves a crucial purpose towards covering essential rising costs in compliance, technology and support services. These encompass a wide range of areas including anti-money laundering and GDPR legislation, sanctions checks and data security requirements, as well as electronic media, data storage and data portal charges.

Disbursements are costs related to your immigration matter that are payable to third parties, such as visa application fees. Our fees do not include disbursements, which must be paid directly to the Home Office. Disbursements for immigration applications normally include:

• Home Office application fees.
• Immigration Health Surcharge: £1,035 per year for applicant aged 18 or over, £776 per year for applicant aged under 18.

Please note that Home Office disbursements are subject to increase, and we will provide you with details of these increases once made available. These are normally incurred on an annual basis but can be more frequent depending on changes in UK immigration policy.

If a translator or independent expert is required, this must be arranged and paid for independently.

Kate Bowen has specialised in litigation since her qualification in March 2007.  Kate is categorised as a ‘Grade A’ litigator (the highest grading), which is defined by the courts as a solicitor with more than 8 years’ litigation experience.  Kate’s hourly rate ranges from £350 to £450 per hour plus 20% VAT depending on the complexity and urgency of the case.

Caroline Gibbs is a consultant solicitor who qualified in 1987.  Caroline is also a ‘Grade A’ litigator.  Caroline’s hourly rate ranges between £350 and £450 per hour plus 20% VAT depending on the complexity and urgency of the case.

If the matter requires urgent attention, for example over a weekend, then the hourly rates may be towards the higher end of the range.

Regardless of the value of a claim, before you issue a claim the court rules provide that you must send a letter of claim setting out the details of your claim and allow the debtor an opportunity to respond (usually around 30 days). Most cases are settled before proceedings are issued during this pre-action stage.

In order to prepare a letter of claim a full analysis of the case including consideration of the documentary and witness evidence will be required. We will be able to provide you with an accurate estimate of costs upon receipt of the documentation and following our initial discussions with you.  We are prepared to agree fixed fees for the preparation of the letter of claim and will discuss this on a case by case basis. The minimum that we would usually charge for a letter of claim is £1,400 plus 20% VAT (this is on the basis of around 4 hours’ work). If your case is complicated and there is a large amount of evidence to consider then this initial stage could cost upwards of £10,000 plus 20% VAT.

If your case reaches trial then the legal costs will range from £15,000 to in excess of £100,000 plus 20% VAT (excluding court issue fee and other disbursements – see below). In our experience debt claims of £100,000 that reach trial will incur costs of around £50,000 plus 20% VAT. These fees will include the following:

• Drafting and issuing the claim form and particulars of claim.
• Considering the defence.
• Completion of a costs budget if required.
• Advising on disclosure obligations and completing disclosure as ordered by the court.
• Liaising with witnesses and preparing witness statements.
• Preparing for and attending all court hearings listed by the court including trial.
• Advising you as appropriate in terms of the merits of the case and strategy throughout.

The time that must be spent on a matter will depend on a number of issues including but not limited to: the complexity of the claim; the existence of a written agreement and evidence generally; the location of the debtor; the strength of any defence that the debtor might raise and the number of witnesses.

The fee ranges indicated above do not include enforcing any judgment that might be obtained, dealing with any counter claim/Part 20/or third-party claims, instructing experts or dealing with experts generally; the making of or responding to any interim applications; or third party disbursements such as process server fees.

Claims usually take between 1 – 18 months 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. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.

Claims are commenced by issuing a claim form, which contains the names of the parties, details of the claim and its value. A court fee must be paid depending on the value of the claim as set out in the ‘Court costs and structure’ drop down.

Once the claim form has been issued, the claimant must serve it on the defendant within four months if the defendant is within the jurisdiction or within six months if the defendant is outside the jurisdiction. The claimant must also prepare particulars of claim, which set out the case and the facts relied on. The claim form can be served within the jurisdiction by various methods, including post and personal service.

Once the defendant has been served with the particulars of claim, it has 14 days to file an acknowledgement of service or a defence. If the defendant files an acknowledgment of service form, it has 28 days from the date of service of the particulars of claim to file a defence. If the defendant does not file an acknowledgment of service form, it must serve a defence within 14 days of receipt of the particulars of claim.

If the defendant does not file an acknowledgment of service form or a defence within the prescribed time-frames, in most cases the claimant can apply for judgment in default.

The claimant can serve a reply in response to the defence within 28 days of receipt of a directions questionnaire from the court.

If the defence contains a counterclaim, the claimant must serve a defence to counterclaim, which is often served with a reply, within 14 days of service of the defence and counterclaim.

The timetable for the subsequent stages of the litigation process, known as “directions”, will be determined at a hearing known as a case management conference. Directions for multi-track cases (usually those worth over £100,000) will usually include most or all of the following:

• Disclosure of documents – usually around 1-2 months after the pleadings (particulars of claim, defence, counterclaim, reply etc.) are closed
• Exchange of witness statements – usually around 1 month after disclosure
• Exchange of experts’ reports – around 1 month after witness evidence
• A pre-trial review hearing – 1-2 months before trial
• Trial – within 9-18 months after the claim is issued.

The directions for intermediate track (those worth over £25,000 but under £100,000) will be a shorted version of the multitrack directions. The standard period between the giving of directions and trial will be no more than thirty weeks.

The directions for fast track cases (those worth under £25,000 but over £10,000) will be a shorted version of the multitrack directions and trials are usually listed within around 6-9 months from when the claim is issued.

The directions for small claims track cases (those worth under £10,000) usually involve listing a trial around 4 months after the claim is issued with the evidence exchanged around a month before trial.

The court generally plays an active role in managing the proceedings and the directions given at the case management conference (even if the directions are agreed between the parties).

If it is necessary to commence a claim at court, the court charges a fee.  The fee is dependent upon the value of the claim.  Below is a table issued by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals service which sets out the court fees applicable when starting a claim at court.  It is often possible to utilise one of the court’s online portals to issue claims known as Money Claim Online (“MCOL”) or County Court Business Centre (“CCBC”). The court issue fee for using these portals is discounted as set out below:-

Starting proceedings to recover a sum of money which:

The value of the claim issued will determine which one of the 4 tracks of the court the claim will be allocated to.

The small claims track is a simplified procedural system for dealing with lower value claims with a financial value of under £10,000.

The fast track is the usual track for any claim:

• Which is worth between £10,000 and £25,000.
• Where the trial is estimated to last not more than a day.
• Where oral expert evidence at trial will be limited to one expert per party per field.

When a claim is allocated to the intermediate track (claims worth between £25,000 and £100,000), the court must also assign it to a complexity band. The complexity bands provide an ascending scale of allowable costs commensurate with the complexity of the claim, known as fixed recoverable costs (FRC). Therefore, the complexity band to which the claim is assigned will determine the amount of FRC allowed.

The costs recoverability for the successful party in respect of small claims, fast track and intermediate track claims is very limited. It is for this reason parties usually represent themselves as it is often not cost effective to instruct solicitors to conduct the cases.

The Civil Procedure Rules defines the multi-track as the track for all cases not suitable for allocation to the small claims track, the fast track or the intermediate track. This means that the multi-track is the right track for any case:

• Worth more than £100,000.
• Where the trial is estimated to last for more than a day.
• Where each party will need to adduce oral expert evidence either from more than two fields, or one expert in a particular field.

Multi-track claims can be heard in either the High Court or the County Court. Usually claims worth below £50,000 are appropriate for the County Court and those worth more than £50,000 are appropriate for the High Court.

The general rule is that the winner pays around two thirds of the winner’s costs, however the courts have a wide discretion in terms of costs allocation and we would advise on a case by case basis.

If you start a claim at court, there will be at least one hearing before a judge; sometimes there are several hearings.  You will need to be represented by an advocate and for this we will instruct a barrister on your behalf.  Barristers also often assist with the drafting and preparation of your claim and other key documents. We will negotiate and agree barrister’s fees on your behalf. The cost of a barrister will depend on the experience of the barrister, the length of the hearing and the amount of work/preparation required.

As a rule of thumb barrister’s fees usually represent around one third of the total legal fees incurred by a claimant during the course of proceedings.

Counsel’s fees in respect of a debt claim worth £100,000 that reached trial would be approximately £15,000-£30,000 plus 20% VAT depending on the seniority of the barrister.

It is sometimes necessary to incur other third party costs during debt recovery litigation. Such costs could include:

• Land Registry search fees
• Process server fees
• Enquiry agent fees if it is necessary to locate a debtor
• Postage costs
• Copying charges if the documentation is substantial

Our employment department, headed up by Peter Jones, provides a full range of services to support employers, employees and consultants. These services include advice on:

• employment disputes and terminations;
• settlement agreement consultations and drafting;
• whistle-blowing and related claims;
• protecting confidential information;
• all forms of unlawful discrimination;
• corporate and commercial transactions (including due diligence and transfer of undertakings);
• individual and collective redundancy consultation;
• director and senior executive service agreements (including bonus and profit-sharing arrangements and restrictive covenants);
• long-term absence and disability;
• performance management; and
• drafting consultancy and contractor agreements with service companies and individuals.

We can bring and defend claims in the employment tribunals and issue and defend High Court proceedings dealing with confidential information, restrictive covenants and other contractual disputes in conjunction with our dispute resolution team.

Peter started practising employment law in 2004, after a career in music and a senior management position at a national charity. He has been responsible for high value whistle-blowing and discrimination cases brought and defended in the employment tribunals, as well as ordinary unfair dismissal and breach of contract claims. He has always specialised in employment law and related commercial practice.

Peter’s hourly rates are currently £390 – £500 (plus 20% VAT) depending on the complexity of the case. Other fee earners at the firm may also be involved, depending on the necessary levels of experience and expertise. We do not normally do fixed fee work but may be able to agree capped fees for aspects of the work involved where appropriate. We are not on a position to enter into conditional fee (often called ‘no win no fee’) agreements with clients on employment matters.

We are required to provide specific information about the cost of bringing and defending employment tribunal proceedings for unfair and wrongful dismissal, which is difficult to assess, as each case is very different, but we hope that the following information will be helpful.

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal:

Simple case: £12,000-£17,000 (plus 20% VAT)

Medium complexity case: £17,000-£24,000 (plus 20% VAT)

High complexity case: £24,000-£150,000 (plus 20% VAT)

Factors that could make a case more complex and increase costs:

• 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 of of £3,200-£3,600 per day (plus 20% VAT). Generally, we would allow 1 – 30 days depending on the complexity of your case.

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as barristers’ fees, experts’ charges and any court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

A Counsel’s fees are dependent on the complexity of the matter, including the scope of the evidence that needs to be considered. The claim value and degree of required specialisation may influence the rates charged. Approximate costs for a two-day hearing are:

• £6,000-£9,000 (plus 20% VAT) for a junior barrister (up to 5 years’ experience as a qualified barrister);
• £9,000-£15,000 (plus 20% VAT) VAT for a more experienced barrister (5-10 years’ experience as a qualified barrister); and
• £15,000-22,000 (plus 20% VAT) for a highly experienced barrister (over 10 years’ experience as a qualified barrister).

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.

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 2 – 4 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take over 12 months. 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.

There is a general rule that each party bears their own costs in employment tribunal litigation. However, on an exceptional basis, awards for some or all of a party’s costs can made against the other because a party, or their representative, has acted vexatiously, abusively, disruptively, or otherwise unreasonably in the bringing or conducting of the proceedings, or a part of them, has been in breach of an order or practice direction or has postponed or adjourned a hearing inappropriately. Weak parts of claims can also be subject to deposit orders and the employment tribunal has power to penalise inappropriate conduct by representatives or the parties, by awarding wasted costs and aggravated and exemplary damages.

You may have insurance to cover some or all of the cost of bringing or defending an unfair and/or wrongful dismissal claim. For individuals, insurance may be bundled with other financial products, such as home contents or mortgage payment protection insurance. It is important that you comply with any policy terms in full and it is advisable that decisions about dismissal are taken with the benefit of legal advice from a specialist solicitor. Individuals may be able to obtain advice and support without incurring costs, as a member of a union or other organisation that provides these membership benefits.

The statements above do not amount to legal advice or any commitment to a specific fee, rate or timescale. The fee ranges indicated above do not include enforcing any judgment that might be obtained or dealing with any counter claim. Fee, costs and time estimates will be provided upon our review of relevant information and the nature of your instructions.

Moore SGD Law is uniquely placed to assist Executors or Administrators of an estate as our legal specialists work collaboratively with tax specialists from Moore Kingston Smith to make the process as efficient as possible. Alison Morris, a partner, oversees all probate matters. The tax aspects of the estate is supervised by Claire Roberts, a Moore Kingston Smith partner.

Our fees

We charge on a time-spent basis which means that we will only charge you for work we have completed on behalf of the estate. Our initial meeting is at no charge to the estate and we use this as an exploratory session to gather information on the estate which will enable us to provide you with an estimate for the work to be carried out. Our fees are not based on a percentage of the estate and we do not charge a responsibility fee. You are welcome at any stage to request a timesheet showing the time spent attending to your matter and the tasks undertaken. We will always agree a fee estimate with you before starting work. The fee estimate will be reviewed as your matter progresses and it at any time it becomes apparent that more time will be needed to complete the work (for example if additional assets are located in the estate; HMRC have lodged an objection to a valuation submitted in the inheritance tax return), we will discuss a revised fee estimate with you before proceeding.

The hourly rates at which our time is charged depends on the experience of the individual who works on each task. We make every effort to ensure that tasks are handled at the appropriate and most cost efficient level. For example, an experienced solicitor will complete and talk you through the contents of the inheritance return while a paralegal (supervised by a solicitor) will usually liaise with asset holders to obtain the probate valuation of assets within the estate and deal with the daily administrative tasks. See the following team section for the hourly rate of each individual who may work on your matter.

Disbursements

The administration of an estate will incur administrative costs that can be paid from the estate. We will pay these in the first instance and they can be repaid from the estate when it has the funds to do so. These costs, known as disbursements, include:

• Probate application fee of £300 plus £1.50 per additional court certified copy (typically one copy is required per asset);
• Asset holders, such as those that hold shareholdings, may charge a fee for a probate valuation which will vary on a case by case basis;
• Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2 per beneficiary). This is to protect the Executors from mistakenly making a payment to a beneficiary that is subject to a bankruptcy order;
• Notice in the London Gazette and in a local newspaper to alert potential creditors to the estate of approximately £150 – £200 plus VAT. This is to protect the Executors against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.

Service charge

We will also apply a 2% (plus VAT) service charge to your professional fees. This charge serves a crucial purpose towards covering essential rising costs in compliance, technology and support services. These encompass a wide range of areas including anti-money laundering and GDPR legislation, sanctions checks and data security requirements, as well as electronic media, data storage and data portal charges.

Alison Morris | Partner – £565 per hour plus VAT

Alison Morris has been a private client solicitor for over 18 years, working with families and individuals in the preparation of Wills, obtaining Probate and dealing with the administration of estates, advising on estate and tax planning including lifetime gifts and post death Deeds of Variation, Powers of Attorney, Advance Decisions, issues of capacity and the application of the Mental Capacity Act including Court of Protection applications.

Alison deals with obtaining Grants of Representation and the administration of both taxable and non taxable estates. She has particular experience in dealing with complex intestacies, insolvent estates and applying for limited grants including ad colligenda bona and attorney grants, applications to complete an unadministered estate by obtaining a grant of administration with will annexed or a grant de bonis non administratis and when necessary the revocation of grants.

Blair Gould | Director – £450 per hour plus VAT  

Blair is an experienced private client consultant solicitor with 30 years’ legal experience in public sector and in private practice. Blair has a broad business and commercial awareness, high-level technical competence on matters of estate planning and tax, and helps families with generational estate planning.

A fully accredited member of the Association of Lifelong Lawyers, Blair’s aim is always to demystify the law. He advises clients on how best to organise their estates with a view to preserving family wealth through existing trusts or by creating fresh ones.

Specialising in a full bespoke will writing and probate service, he takes a holistic approach to family matters and estate planning, including advising on European cross-jurisdiction and post-Brexit-related matters. He deals with all intestacy and probate matters, whether straightforward or complex.

He also assists with lasting powers of attorney, deputyships and Court of Protection work. He advises on lifetime trusts and discretionary trusts arising under wills and settlements over property and assists all clients in a tailored and discrete way, frequently attending to clients at their homes, if required.

Adam Matthews | Solicitor – £345 per hour plus VAT  

Adam studied criminology at the University of Leicester before completing the Graduate Diploma in Law at the University of Westminster and finally the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law. Adam qualified as a solicitor in March 2018.

Adam’s experience in the administration of estates ranges from small estates to large complex estates, as well as estates with a foreign element. Adam has experience in assisting personal representatives with their responsibilities.

Adam advises clients who are making a Will for the first time and those who wish to make changes to their current Wills as their circumstances change. Adam also advises clients on the preparation and registration of Lasting Powers of Attorney and all aspects of trust work.

William Hilliard | Solicitor – £230 per hour plus VAT  

Will studied History at the University of York and then went on to complete the Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at the University of Law’s centres in York and Leeds respectively.

Will supports the fee earners in our private client legal team with their work on the administration of estates and the drafting of wills, trusts and lasting powers of attorney. Approximately 70% of Will’s time is spent assisting with probate work.

The time required to complete the administration of an estate varies according to the terms of the Will (if there is one); the number and nature of the assets; and the time taken by asset holders to provide information. Even straightforward estates take at least six months to complete when the time taken by HMRC and the Probate Registry to process the estate is taken into account. An estimate to the timescale to administer a straightforward estate is given below.

Timescale stage 1

Where an estate includes one property only and up to five bank accounts and there are no other complicating factors, completing stage 1 typically takes between eight and ten weeks from the date of instruction. Where there are complicating features, such as there being numerous assets in the estate or the deceased made significant lifetime gifts, the length of time to make the application for probate is likely to be extended.

HMRC typically takes around 8 weeks to review the inheritance tax return and send a document to the Probate Registry to process the application. The Probate Registry is currently advising that its review of the application will take around 16 weeks if submitted online.  If a paper application is required then the application will inevitably take longer.

Timescale stage 2

Depending on the nature of the assets, collecting and distributing the assets and providing you with estate accounts is likely to take around 6 to 8 weeks once the grant of probate is received. This stage will take longer to complete where there is a property to sell or there are income or capital gains tax to settle.

Sarah Chamberlain supervises our property department. Sarah qualified as a lawyer in 2000 and deals with both commercial and residential property matters. The department includes Obaid Sethi who qualified in 2006 and works particularly on residential conveyancing and lease extension matters.

Our fees are based on the fee earner’s hourly rates (which range from £250 – £350 plus 20% VAT) and our experience of the time that will be involved for the type of transaction. Our fees will vary depending on the complexity, requirements and value of the particular transaction. If you would like to consider instructing us to act for you, then we will give you a specific quote for fees and disbursements tailored to your individual transaction.

Our work for a purchase transaction includes investigating title, reviewing information provided by the seller, carrying out relevant property searches, raising appropriate enquiries, preparing a report on title and agreeing the form of contract and transfer documents. If you are using mortgage finance then we will either act for your lender on the mortgage arrangements, or if they require a separate firm to act for them, we will liaise with the lender’s solicitors. We will deal with exchange of contracts, completion of the purchase, preparation and submission of the Stamp Duty Land Tax Return and then registration of the transfer and any legal charges at the Land Registry.

The key stages for a purchase transaction are exchange of contracts – which is usually between 4 – 8 weeks from starting the matter – and then completion, which will generally be set for somewhere between 2 – 4 weeks later. A typical purchase transaction can therefore take anything from 6 weeks to 3 months to complete but each matter will depend on the individual circumstances and other parties involved.

As a general indication, the legal fees for a straightforward purchase transactions would be as follows.  VAT at 20% is payable on these sums and disbursements are charged in addition.  please note we do not offer a fixed fee service.  If the matter does not complete for any reason, our fees will be based on time spent.

Disbursements are additional charges you must pay and are set by, and paid to, third parties. For a purchase transaction these will usually include – search fees (i.e. Local Authority Search, Water & Drainage search, Environmental Search and Chancelcheck search) of approximately £400 plus 20% VAT, bankruptcy and land registry search fees of around £10 plus 20% VAT and a bank transfer fee of £15 plus 20% VAT. In addition, the most significant disbursements will be the Land Registry registration fee and the Stamp Duty Land Tax due on the transaction – these amounts will depend on the value of the property and your circumstances, and we can provide you with a calculation of these figures at the outset of your transaction. If your lender requires a separate firm to represent them for the mortgage arrangements, any fees charged by them are also payable by you.

If you are purchasing a leasehold property there are likely to be additional disbursements required under the terms of the lease such as a Deed of Covenant fee and a Notice of Transfer/Charge fee – those amounts will be set by the landlord’s solicitor and we will obtain those figures at the earliest stage of the transaction.

Please note that our services do not include advice on financial matters, mortgages, tax, valuation issues or surveys. You will need to separately instruct appropriate professionals to deal with such matters if required, such as from our partner firm Moore Kingston Smith.

A typical sale transaction will involve us collating title documents, obtaining information from the landlord (if applicable) and preparing the draft Contract package. We will deal with enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitors, liaise with the landlord’s solicitors/managing agents and your lender where applicable.

The key stages for a sale transaction are exchange of contracts – which is usually between 4 – 8 weeks from starting the matter – and then completion, which will generally be set for somewhere between 2 – 4 weeks later. A typical sale transaction can therefore take anything from 6 weeks to 3 months to complete but each matter will depend on the individual circumstances and other parties involved.

As a general indication, the legal fees for a straightforward sale transaction would be as follows. VAT at 20% is payable on these sums and disbursements are charged in addition.  Please note we do not offer a fixed fee service.  If the matter does not complete for any reason, our fees will be based on time spent.

If you are selling a leasehold property there are likely to be additional disbursements for fees charged by the landlord/managing agents for providing replies to standard enquiries – those amounts will be set by them and we will obtain those figures at the earliest stage of the transaction.

Please note that our services do not include advice on financial matters, mortgages, tax, valuation issues or surveys. You will need to separately instruct appropriate professionals to deal with such matters if required, such as from our partner firm Moore Kingston Smith.

For a remortgage/mortgage only transaction, the work involved will depend on the lender’s requirements but this will usually involve us reviewing the title documents, carrying out the relevant property searches and obtaining general information regarding the property from you, and your landlord/managing agent as applicable.

The key stages for a mortgage transaction are reporting to the lender – which is usually 4 – 6 weeks from starting the matter – and then completion, which will generally be set for somewhere between 1 – 2 weeks later. A typical mortgage transaction can therefore take anything from 5 – 8 weeks to complete but each matter will depend on the individual circumstances and other parties involved.

As a general indication, the legal fees for a straightforward mortgage transactions would be as follows.  VAT at 20% is payable on these sums and disbursements are charged in addition.  Please note we do not offer a fixed fee service.  If the matter does not complete for any reason, our fees will be based on time spent.

For a mortgage transactions the disbursements are usually search fees of approximately £400 plus 20% VAT; bankruptcy search fees of around £10 plus 20% VAT; Land Registry search fees of around £10 plus 20% VAT and a registration fee which will depend on the value of the loan; bank transfer fee of £15 plus 20% VAT; and landlord/managing agent fee (if applicable) for providing information about the property.

Please note that our services do not include advice on financial matters, mortgages, tax, valuation issues or surveys. You will need to separately instruct appropriate professionals to deal with such matters if required, such as from our partner firm Moore Kingston Smith.