Paying for legal services

Working out your solicitor’s charges

The ways in which charges are worked out differ depending on whether your legal work has been contentious (with court proceedings) or non-contentious (with no court proceedings).

In both cases your solicitor’s bill should contain enough information for you to see what work has been done and what you are being charged for so that you can decide whether to get your bill checked.

Bills for contentious work

If the work involved a court case, your solicitor can send you either a brief summary of costs (called a gross sum bill) or a bill containing detailed items. If you receive a summary, you may ask for a bill containing detailed items within three months. However, you cannot ask for this if your solicitor has already started to sue you for the money. If you ask for a bill containing detailed items, it will replace the original summary and can be for more or less than the summary.

Bills for non-contentious work

Your solicitor may be prepared to give you more detail of the work that has been done, if you ask.

Getting your bill checked

Your bill can be assessed by an independent body. Follow the procedures described on the getting your bill checked page.