We tailor our costs for you
At Teelan & Silwal, we are committed to ensuring that anyone who needs legal advice should be able to access affordable services.
Providing you with knowledge and expertise enables you to make informed decisions about your circumstances, provides you with a clear direction and helps you maintain control.
We also know that it is important for you to have the ability to manage your legal fees to suit your circumstances and we therefore offer three distinct legal services options, all of which provide transparency in respect of legal fees and clarity about what you can expect from us. This includes a fully tailored legal service, an unbundled service and a fixed fee service.
The firm does have the discretion to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether to offer clients an unbundled service arrangement or a fixed fee arrangement, depending on the nature of the work and the client’s individual circumstances.
However you proceed, you will always have choice, control and clarity. This includes the flexibility to move between our different services as you see fit or your needs demand.
Please click on the headings below for more information.
A tailored legal service is one where we will manage every aspect of the case for you from start to finish. You will be charged for the actual time that a solicitor or legal professional spends working on your case. The charges are calculated according to the hourly charge out rate of the fee earner, which reflects that person’s experience and expertise. Each task will be calculated in increments of 6-minute units, the full details of which will be provided to you.
The time spent on your case includes (but is not limited to) taking your instructions, advising you, preparing documents, attending meetings with you and third parties, attending court, dealing with correspondence and any other necessary work.
A tailored legal service would be appropriate if you would prefer someone to manage your case on a day-to-day basis and, in particular, in the following circumstances:
You will have an initial consultation with us, to discuss your particular circumstances and how we can help you move forward. You will be provided with advice in relation to mediation or other forms of non-court dispute resolution (NCDR), if appropriate, and will be supported throughout the process, whichever route you take.
You will be provided with details of our hourly rates and, where appropriate, an indication of the likely fees that could be incurred. You will be provided with updated fee estimates as your matter progresses.
If you wish to proceed, then we will provide you with the necessary documentation to take you on as a client and we will formulate a plan together to move matters forward.
You will be sent regular invoices (usually monthly) that will include full details of the time spent on your matter, which will need to be paid upon receipt.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss your options, then please contact us
An unbundled legal service allows you to instruct us to manage specific aspects of your case, whether in relation to children or finances, rather than instructing us to handle the entire case from start to finish. This approach can provide you with more control and flexibility over the legal support you receive from us and therefore help reduce the amount you are spending on legal fees.
With an unbundled service, our level of involvement will be at your discretion. When you request legal support, we will work closely with you to define clearly the specific issues of your case that we will handle and for what you will be responsible. You will maintain control of your case, but you can expect us to provide you with a high level of support in relation to key legal aspects that may be too complex to manage alone. This support may include:
As you will remain in charge of your case, you will be responsible for dealing with all communications (whether in writing or on the telephone) with the other party.
If a court application has been issued, Teelan & Silwal will not be on the court record. In those circumstances, all communications with the court will need to be managed by you. You will also be responsible for ensuring that you attend any court hearings and prepare all relevant documentation in advance of that hearing, on which you may of course seek our assistance.
This level of service may not be suitable for everyone. If you are dealing with complex legal matters or struggling to manage deadlines, an unbundled service may not be appropriate. The firm has the discretion to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether to offer clients an unbundled service arrangement, depending upon the nature of the work and the client’s individual circumstances. If we do not believe that an unbundled service will be appropriate for you, we will discuss other service options with you to find the most appropriate.
We will start with an initial consultation with you, to discuss how we can be of assistance to you and so that we understand what your specific needs are.
We will determine whether an unbundled service is appropriate depending on the nature of the work and your individual circumstances.
If an unbundled service agreement is appropriate, we will then agree the parameters of the work and you will receive details of our hourly rates and a fee estimate for the work. Please note that it will only be an estimate and not a fixed price.
If you are in agreement, we will commence work on your behalf. You will be sent regular invoices that will need to be paid upon receipt.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss your options, then please contact us
Our fixed fee service is a transparent, pre-agreed price for a specific amount of work we will carry out on your behalf. We will work closely with you to define clearly the specific work that we will conduct, and you will have clarity about exactly how much that will cost. These terms will be agreed before we start any work for you and the fees would need to be paid in advance. You will have the benefit of certainty, with no hidden costs. There may be certain exclusions to what is covered under the fixed fee service. We aim to offer you an affordable service covering the situations we think are most likely to arise in your particular case. We do not build in an amount to cover every eventuality, as we feel that this would be disadvantageous to you should your case proceed smoothly. We would therefore deal with any unexpected or unusual elements of your case by way of a separate charge, the details of which we would discuss with you in advance.
Fixed fee services may be appropriate in the following circumstances:
The above may be carried out on either a tailored legal service or unbundled basis.
Our fixed fee offering can also extend to having a one-hour question and answer session with one of our Directors. This time could be used to help guide you in the right direction, so that you can proceed with confidence.
If your matter changes, for example if new issues arise or it moves from a conciliatory matter to a contested one, then we will consider the options with you in detail. Rest assured, you will not be charged any additional costs without your prior agreement. In these circumstances, we may need to consider adjusting the terms of our fixed fee agreement with you, which may include agreeing an additional fee or switching to the tailored legal service, charged on an hourly basis.
The firm has the discretion to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether to offer a fixed fee arrangement, depending on the nature of the work and your individual circumstances.
We will start with an initial consultation with you, to discuss how we can be of assistance to you and so that we understand your specific needs.
We will assess your matter prior to confirming that your matter will be suitable for a fixed fee service.
If we confirm that we can support you on a fixed fee basis, we will provide you with a written fixed fee agreement, which will set out the parameters of the work to be carried out.
If you wish to proceed, then once the fees have been paid in full in advance, we will commence work on your behalf.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss your options, then please contact us
We provide you with specialist, bespoke and expert legal advice on all aspects of private family law.
Find Out MoreCall us directly on 020 3036 0978 or book an appointment below.
2 Stephen Street
Fitzrovia
London
W1T 1AN
The Stanley Building
7 Pancras Square
London
N1C 4AG
