Our fees: Motoring Offences

We cannot emphasise enough the complexity and differences in what is required in a motoring offence case, in the first instance please contact us on 0191 232 9547 and we can outline the fee options available for your case.

View our motoring webpages to meet the team and understand more about how we can help.

We will attempt to provide you with a fixed fee for advice or court representation by specialist solicitors.  Please contact us to discuss pricing options; your fee will depend on a number of variables including:

• Nature of the charge (s)
• Location of court
• Sentencing guidelines starting point
• Whether you intend to plead guilty or not guilty
• Anticipated length of the hearing
• Level of solicitor conducting representation

Please note our fees are subject to VAT, this tax is set by the UK government and is currently 20%.

Fixed Fee

Most clients opt to work on a fixed fee basis.  The fee depends on the variables listed above; we have several packages available for you to choose from and will be able to provide fee options once we have the details of your case.

Our fees may be higher if your case is out of our area, urgent or you require exclusivity on the day of your hearing.

Our above fixed fee includes the following key stages (guilty plea only):

• Obtaining necessary information from Police / CPS
• Legal Review and Analysis
• Providing full advice on plea, mitigation and likely sentence including merits of any challenge to the evidence
• Representation at Magistrates Court by a Specialist Solicitor including further hearings held on the same day
• Written report and advice on outcome and initial advice on any potential appeal

Additional Costs – the fixed fees above exclude (guilty plea only):

• Instruction of any expert witnesses, witnesses will be asked to provide a quote of their costs in advance
• Taking statements from any witnesses
• Advice and assistance in relation to Exceptional Hardship and/or a Special Reasons hearing
• Representation or further advice in relation to any appeal

Bespoke Fixed Fee

If you wish to plead not guilty, exceptional hardship or special reasons, we will provide a bespoke fixed fee depending on the above variables and the amount of work required.  Prices start from £800 + VAT. We will agree with you in advance what is to be included in your bespoke fixed fee.

Our estimate for a half day trial for the above types of motoring offence, based on 6-8 hours of work including taking your full instructions, preparation of your case and representation at court would be £1200-£1900 + VAT

Hourly Rate

The majority of our work is carried out under fixed fees. However, if you wish work to be undertaken on an hourly rate basis, our hourly rates are:

Partner £300+ VAT (Brian Hegarty)

Senior specialist solicitor (over 10 years PQE)  £280 + VAT (Janice Hall, Michael Gibson)
Specialist solicitor (5 years+) £ 235 + VAT (Amy Lamb)

Specialist solicitor (<5 years) £225 + VAT (Josh Hart)
Paralegal £170 + VAT

The number of hours it will take to deal with your case can vary greatly; we will provide an estimate of hours once we have the details of your case, on average cases can take 10-20 hours. This will normally include time undertaken representing you at court, taking instructions from you and preparing your case. Travelling and waiting are charged at half the hourly rate. Mileage will be charged at 45p per mile

Legal Aid

David Gray Solicitors LLP has a Crime Legal Aid contract. If you are on low income please advise us and we will carry out a legal aid assessment. Please note for some road traffic offences, legal aid may be refused regardless of your income if there are no complexities.

Disbursements

In more complex cases additional disbursements may be payable, such as expert witness reports, we will advise you of this cost before incurring the cost.

Timescale

• We can usually offer same day appointments by Microsoft Teams or phone to provide initial advice, if required
• Full advice may depend on the availability of prosecution papers. The Crown Prosecution Service has a target of providing papers 5 days before the first hearing
• We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court listing which varies greatly depending on the court and priority given to your case

Key Stages
We recognise that no two cases are the same and our work will depend on a holistic approach to your case.
Likely key stages of your matter are based on the presumption that you intend to enter a guilty plea and have a date for your hearing.

• Consultation with your solicitor to provide instructions
• Obtain and consider initial disclosure, and any other information and provide advice.
• Conduct a full legal review and analysis of your case
• Providing full advice on plea, mitigation and likely sentence including merits of any challenge to the evidence
• We will explain the court procedure to you so you know what to expect, and the sentencing options available to the court.
• Conducting any preparatory work, obtaining further instructions from you if necessary and answer any queries you have.
• We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court listing for that day.
• Representation at court by a Specialist Solicitor. We will meet with you before going before the court. We anticipate being at court for anything between one hour and the full day.
• Written report and advice on outcome and initial advice on any appeal.

Motoring work will be undertaken by our motoring team displayed below, all team members are supervised by Brian Hegarty.