Akin Palmer

FEES & PRICING

Potential charges for services

Guide prices for conveyancing, probate, immigration, employment and debt collection, plus our standard hourly rates.

Our standard rates

Hourly rates foreveryday legal work

Our standard fees for other contentious and non-contentious matters. Where a fixed fee or estimate applies, you'll find it in the sections below.

Partner
£425per hour + VAT
Assistant
£285per hour + VAT
Paralegals & clerks
£195per hour + VAT
Specialist franchise law
£500per hour + VAT

All fees are liable to VAT at the current rate of 20%.

01Conveyancing

Buying a freehold home

Our fees cover all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including registration at the Land Registry and dealing with Stamp Duty Land Tax (or Land Transaction Tax in Wales).

0.333%

of the property value

Minimum charge £600 + VAT

This standard fee may be increased by a further 2% of the property value depending on the specific details and complexity of the transaction.

The average purchase takes 8–12 weeks from offer accepted to moving in. A new build with a mortgage in principle could take 16 weeks; a leasehold needing a lease extension can take 3–5 months, with additional charges.

Worked example

£400,000 purchase in London

Our fees (A)

  • Our fee£1,332.00
  • Acting for your lender£250.00
  • Completing Stamp Duty form£75.00
  • Bank charges (transferring completion funds)£40.00

Total of our fees£1,697.00

Disbursements & expenses (B)

  • VAT at 20% on our fees£339.40
  • Local authority, water, drainage, chancel & Land Registry searches (est.)£290.00
  • Bankruptcy & priority search fees (per person)£6.00
  • Land Registry fee£135.00
  • Stamp Duty — second home ownership (to be confirmed)£10,000.00

Total disbursements£10,770.40

Total fees & disbursements (A+B)£12,467.40
Key stages of a purchase15 stages
  1. 01Take your instructions and give initial advice
  2. 02Check finances are in place and contact the lender's solicitors if needed
  3. 03Receive and advise on contract documents and the lease where relevant
  4. 04Carry out searches
  5. 05Obtain further planning documentation if required
  6. 06Make any necessary enquiries of the seller's solicitor
  7. 07Advise you on all documents and information received
  8. 08Go through the conditions of your mortgage offer
  9. 09Send the final contract to you for signature
  10. 10Agree the completion date
  11. 11Exchange contracts and notify you
  12. 12Arrange for all monies to be received from your lender and you
  13. 13Complete the purchase
  14. 14Deal with payment of Stamp Duty / Land Tax
  15. 15Apply for registration at the Land Registry

Buying a leasehold?

Our fees are charged on a similar basis to a freehold purchase, with additional disbursements set by the freeholder or management company. Typical ranges:

  • Notice of Transfer fee£90 – £150
  • Notice of Charge fee (if mortgaged)£90 – £150
  • Deed of Covenant fee£150 – £250
  • Certificate of Compliance fee£90 – £150

These fees vary from property to property and can occasionally be significantly more. Ground rent and service charge are likely to apply throughout your ownership.

02Probate

Applying for the grant, collecting and distributing the assets

1.5%

of the gross value of the estate's general assets

0.75%

of the gross value of any residential property

Plus VAT at 20% and expenses.

Estate worth £500,000, no property sale

£9,635

  • Legal fees£7,500
  • VAT£1,500
  • Disbursements inc. VAT£635

This quote assumes

  • There is a valid will
  • No more than one property
  • No more than 2 bank or building society accounts
  • No other intangible assets
  • 4–6 beneficiaries
  • No disputes between beneficiaries
  • No inheritance tax payable and no full account to HMRC
  • No claims made against the estate

Disbursements included

Probate application fee
£273 + £6 for 4 copies
Swearing of the oath
£7 per executor
Bankruptcy-only Land Charges searches
£3 per beneficiary
Notice in The London Gazette
£96
Notice in a local newspaper
£250

Typical timeline: 12–18 months

  1. Obtain the grant

    1–2 months

  2. Collect assets

    6–12 months

  3. Distribute assets

    2–3 weeks

If there is no will or the estate includes share holdings, additional costs are likely. Extra copies of the grant cost £0.50 each. Selling or transferring estate property is not included.

03Immigration

Most applications are quoted on a fixed fee basis

Typical cost, inc. VAT

£2,000 – £2,500

£1,500 – £2,000

If you can provide sufficient evidence at our first meeting and clearly meet the Immigration Rules

Hourly rate £296 + VAT · on average 6–7 hours of work

Applications we cover

  1. 01Parent of a child who has lived in the UK for seven years
  2. 02Family members of British citizens and settled persons (fiancé(e), spouse, civil, unmarried and same-sex partners)
  3. 03ILR as a victim of domestic violence or bereaved partner
  4. 04Parent of a British child, or children of a parent with limited leave
  5. 05EU law applications
  6. 06Long residency applications
  7. 07British citizenship applications
  8. 08Turkish worker and self-employed visas
  9. 09UK visitor visas

What's included

  • Discussing your circumstances and confirming the most appropriate application
  • Advice on the Immigration Rules and whether you meet the criteria
  • Reviewing your supporting evidence and helping obtain further evidence
  • Preparing and submitting your application on your behalf
  • Advice on any Home Office interview
  • Advice on the outcome and any further steps

Not included

  • Home Office application fees (paid directly by you)
  • Appeals if the Home Office refuses your application
  • Interpreter fees and independent expert reports (advised separately)

We will normally submit your application within 4 weeks of you instructing us.

04Employment

Bringing or defending unfair or wrongful dismissal claims

All prices exclude VAT at 20%.

What can make a case more complex

  • Applications to amend claims or provide further information
  • Defending claims brought by litigants in person
  • Making or defending a costs application
  • Complex preliminary issues, such as disability
  • The number of witnesses and documents
  • Automatic unfair dismissal, e.g. whistleblowing
  • Linked allegations of discrimination

Simple case

£3,000 – £5,000

Medium complexity

£6,000 – £8,000

High complexity

£9,000 – £12,000+

Attending a Tribunal hearingGenerally 1–2 days, depending on complexity
£1,000 – £1,500 per day
Counsel's fees (inc. preparation)Depending on the advocate's experience
£1,000 – £1,700 per day

Settled in pre-claim conciliation: 4–6 weeks. Proceeding to a Final Hearing: 4–8 months. If some stages aren't needed, the fee will be reduced.

05Debt collection

Undisputed business-to-business debts

  • Hourly charge-out rate£300
  • Assistant Solicitor£200
  • Clerk or Paralegal£150

Per hour, excluding VAT at 20%.

Matters usually take 4–12 weeks from your instructions to payment, depending on whether a claim needs to be issued.

Current court fees
Debt valueCourt fee
£3,000 – £5,000£205
£5,001 – £10,000£455
£10,001 – £200,0004–5% of the claim

Please note

  • Claims under £10,000 are 'small claims' — costs won't be awarded in your favour, even if you win.
  • The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
  • Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher band.
  • These costs don't cover enforcement action, such as bailiffs.

The small print

  1. 1.All fees referred to on this page are liable to VAT at the current rate of 20%.
  2. 2.Our standard client care letter will give you a more detailed estimate for the service you require when you instruct us. As its terms are case-specific, it supersedes the broad fee structure outlined here.
  3. 3.We reserve the right to charge additional fees at our hourly rate if a matter becomes extraordinarily complicated, difficult or time-consuming. We will always tell you about any variation from an estimate.
  4. 4.If a transaction fails to complete, abortive fees will be a reasonable sum for the work done, plus VAT and disbursements — referable to our hourly rate of £300 (conveyancing) or £410 (probate).
  5. 5.Some work may be carried out by a Clerk, Paralegal or Assistant Solicitor, supervised by a Partner.

Want an exact quote for your matter? Call

020 7278 2800Contact Us