For Law Firms
Our Practice Management Team is widely recognised as being very approachable, flexible and understanding what instructing solicitors want. We are passionate about service quality and every member of the team takes a proactive approach to meeting the needs of the most demanding situation. We will work hard to build a long-lasting, service driven relationship with all law firms, irrespective of the frequency or value of instructions.
For Public Access Clients
In addition to accepting instructions through the traditional route of a solicitor, many members of Lamb Chambers are now able to accept instructions direct from members of the public. This frequently saves you both time and money. Please see here.
a. Hourly rates
We understand that litigation can be an expensive process and that you need as much certainty as possible around your legal costs.
We are committed to delivering financial confidence through innovative and mutually beneficial approaches to alternatives to the “billable hour”.
We believe that the value you receive from us, rather than the time it takes us to complete a matter, is what is important.
By doing this, we are focused on delivering projects quickly and effectively.
Where possible we will give you an agreed price for each project we do, meaning you will not have to worry about hidden assumptions or cost over-runs. Our pricing is not based on time estimates or trying to reverse the billable hour equivalent cost into a fixed price.
Instead, we will agree a price with you for a clearly defined scope of work from the outset before we start.
If you then decide to change this scope of work materially, we will agree a reasonable revised price with you; again, in advance.
However, legal costs are sometimes part of the armoury of litigation and therefore our methods of pricing are sometimes necessarily time-based so that we can preserve your ability to recover your costs from your opponent. We will discuss this aspect with you before doing any work.
In summary, we are committed to transparency and openness when agreeing the costs of your legal work.
b. Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs)
A CFA is often referred to as a “no win, no fee” arrangement.
If your case has a good prospect of success a CFA may be an option worth considering. If your solicitor is working for you under a CFA it is likely our barristers will be willing to do so as well.
Under a CFA your barrister agrees a basic hourly or daily rate and a percentage uplift (up to 100%) on that basic fee. If you and your barrister are ultimately successful, the other side pay your barrister’s basic fee and percentage uplift on that sum. If you and your barrister are not successful, your barrister does not get paid.
You will need to take out an “after the event” insurance policy to cover your liability to the other side in the event they win. Essentially CFAs allow you to proceed with a claim although you are not in a position to fund the litigation.
Each individual barrister must make his own decision whether to enter into a particular CFA. The barrister concerned will consider the merits of a case including the legal, evidential and practical risks involved and decide whether he is willing to act.