The Billing Procedure	Source Of Funding	Interest	Time Spent	Retainer
Payment Of Disbursements	Interest: Deposit Interest Provisions	Recovery Of Costs	Costs Against You	Final Bill

The most common question that we are asked at the start of proceedings is 'How much will it cost?'

The following explanation is intended to provide a guide so that you are clearly aware of how costs are calculated.

Charges comprise:

• Time spent by fee earners
• Payment of disbursements
• VAT

Time Spent by fee earners

We are selling you expert assistance by timed units of 6 minutes. Every time that your matter is actioned, the time spent by the solicitor is recorded and collated on a computerised system to produce a monthly interim bill.

The time spent by each fee earner on your matter will be in meeting with you and others on your behalf (Counsel, Experts), telephone attendances, attendances at Court, preparation of letters, documents, orders etc. Each time a fee earner deals with your case, the time that they spend is recorded in units of one-tenth of an hour. At the end of the month you will receive a bill which is calculated from the computer records which have been generated.Each fee earner has an hourly charge-out rate which is charged according to his or her experience. On occasion other fee earners will undertake work on your case. This is because at certain stages work can be dealt with by junior fee earners at a lower charge out rate.

Any disbursements incurred in the month will also be included on the bill.

The billing procedure
We deliver monthly interim bills to all our Clients. This helps you to be aware of the costs that you are incurring. It is rare in divorce proceedings to recover costs against the spouse that you are divorcing. We try to build into the settlement a figure to reimburse you for the costs that you have expended. Almost inevitably, the responsibility for your costs will be yours. We expect you to discharge your monthly bill within 21 days of receipt. If, for any reason, you cannot discharge that account then you should contact us immediately. If you fail to discharge the account without explanation then we will, regrettably, stop working on your matter until your account has been regularised to our mutual satisfaction.

Sources of funding
Commercial banks will fund our divorce clients provided they meet the banks risk criteria. We will introduce and co-operate so that if possible we can obtain funding for you should you be unable to support the litigation personally. Sometimes it is better to be funded by a bank than by your relatives!

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Interest
We are entitled to charge interest on accounts which are delivered and unpaid for 28 days. Please be aware that we have this right which we exercise only with reluctance when there is persistent default in failure to pay accounts due and outstanding.

Charges
At the commencement of work, we will advise you of our charge-out rates. These rates are reviewed annually from 1st May and you will be advised of any revision.

Retainer
It is a condition of our retainer to ask Clients for monies ‘on account of costs and disbursements’. Those monies are retained on your behalf. If we need to expend a disbursement, payment is taken from the monies on account. Each month we send you an interim account and will initially discharge any sums in the retainer to pay the account. When the account is discharged in full then the retainer is reinstated.

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Payment of Disbursements
These are the charges that we have to pay on your behalf:

Interest: Deposit Interest Provisions
No interest will be paid on client account monies if the period of deposit and the amount on deposit result in an interest payment of less than £20.

Recovery of Costs
You are responsible to us for the costs we incur on your behalf. If an “Order for Costs” is made against your spouse (or any other party) you are still responsible to pay costs. You will be reimbursed when monies are recovered from the other party.

Costs Against You
Very rarely circumstances might arise where you may be ordered to pay costs of your opponent. This is a rare event and one that will be discussed if circumstances leading to that event occur.

Final Bill
At the end of the matter we will, on your specific instructions to do so, prepare a final bill. This is a detailed analysis of all the work which has been undertaken on your account. Almost invariably, a final bill is for a larger amount than the totality of the interim charges and the final account is the one that is payable.