andygardener Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 no-one has actually said they are forced to charge those rates (although technically they are forced to charge them by the firms they work for which are run as businesses)' date=' they have merely said the rates are set. Nobody forces plumbers, joiners or builders to charge but I don't see many working for nothing.[/quote'] If I could draw you attention to the evidence given by m'learned friend "Moosey" We solicitors don't set our hourly rates - the Courts do. The rates are set by work type, location, and experience. There's not many grades, so for example £90 an hour in Sheffield gets you a trainee. £200+ gets you a partner. It would seem to be in direct contradiction to your contention that "no-one has actually said they are forced to charge those rates". Your contention that it is solicitors firms forcing practitioners to charge exorbitant fees as opposed to his that it is the courts are two very different arguments. Both of which leave the legal community looking like leeches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel's Mum Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 If I could draw you attention to the evidence given by m'learned friend "Moosey" It would seem to be in direct contradiction to your contention that "no-one has actually said they are forced to charge those rates". Your contention that it is solicitors firms forcing practitioners to charge exorbitant fees as opposed to his that it is the courts are two very different arguments. Both of which leave the legal community looking like leeches. Now read it again - Moosey says "We solicitors don't SET our hourly rates, the courts do". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnvqsos Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 A few points. We solicitors don't set our hourly rates - the Courts do. The rates are set by work type, location, and experience. There's not many grades, so for example £90 an hour in Sheffield gets you a trainee. £200+ gets you a partner. Second thing is, the worst that can happen is they lose and get a costs order against them, for a couple of thousand pounds worth of legal fees. That's the worst that can happen. Excuse me but I do not think you are a solicitor at all.In an earlier post you implied you were a barrister ,now you claim to be a solicitor.If you are in the legal profession your use of language seems somewhat rudimentary. I think you have been watching too many TV programmes which have provided you with a gossamer thin grasp of the profession.It is an interesting fantasy but I think its time you packed it up and reveal that you work on the perfume counter in Atkinsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygardener Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Now read it again - Moosey says "We solicitors don't SET our hourly rates' date=' the courts do".[/quote'] Quite. The word set is rather precise. I choose to set my rate at X. If the courts set my rate at Y by dint of law then my rate is no longer X, it is Y. But the courts do no such thing. They limit your rate to a maximum of Y. So your former colleague was mendacious in his evidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrapeApe Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 £1000 my trousers. I'm currently using a London-based Counsel at 150 an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I need a rant. I am annoyed at our very good legal system. There is legal aid available for anyone who is on benefits but for those families who work for the minimum wage and struggle to make ends meet have to pay for legal help. I would understand if it was a criminal matter etc but when it relates to family matters and the fact that one side of the party has to stand down due to not being able to afford legal aid and barristers at £1000 an hour + I think its discusting. Its not about whats best for the child or the right thing to do its about who can drag it out due to having legal aid and who has the most money to spend on barristers, solicitors and court fees!! Our country should be ashamed!!!! I couldn't agree with you more. The law is no longer available to many ordinary people and that is simply not right. If ever a profession was due for an overhaul it is the law. We seem to be locked into an archaic system from a couple of hundred years ago which is neither fair or efficient, and certainly not suitable for a modern society. The time that seems to be wasted, at great expense, is horrendous and must add greatly to the cost. Nobody bats an eye these days when trials and enquiries go on for months and months and cost millions of pounds. And even then the result can be overturned for various reasons, requiring a retrial etc. It's also pretty much a closed shop and very difficult to get into which makes it rather elitist in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 £1000 my trousers. I'm currently using a London-based Counsel at 150 an hour. I can verify that in this instance the OP has been quoted a minimum of £1000 for a barrister to represent them for a single hearing which should take half an hour, and this is in addition to court fees and solicitor's fees. Whether the difference is in hourly rate or the fact that the barrister will be charging for preparation hours as well as the hearing itself is pretty much irrelevant to be honest. The cost still has to be paid ahead of the hearing and to a family on modest incomes that is a huge amount of money to find on top of solicitor's fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECCOnoob Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I can verify that in this instance the OP has been quoted a minimum of £1000 for a barrister to represent them for a single hearing which should take half an hour, and this is in addition to court fees and solicitor's fees. Whether the difference is in hourly rate or the fact that the barrister will be charging for preparation hours as well as the hearing itself is pretty much irrelevant to be honest. The cost still has to be paid ahead of the hearing and to a family on modest incomes that is a huge amount of money to find on top of solicitor's fees. well firstly can we see some proof of this? You seem to have suddenly gained a lot of information. Are you related to the OP or something. Secondly, the difference of hourly rate or prep+hearing are NOT irrelevant actually. They are very relevant. Which is it? Hourly rate as ranted by the OP or total cost. There is a big difference. The OP ranted quite clearly that they were going to be charged £1k per hour for a barrister. Are you now claiming that this is NOT in fact the case??? How do you know that there might not be 5, 10, 20 hours of preparation/drafting/travel and THEN the hearing itself. £1k in that case might make more sense. Can we actually see some facts to this "rant" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strix Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Relate would be much cheaper, but I don't suppose people so predisposed to ranting would entertain the idea of reconciliation or mediation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erebus Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Well glad to realise it is dawning on people that justice costs, and there is little if none, if you cannot afford it. Why should the poor and needy need justice, let the bottom feeders fester in what they are used to, is how some think. Resources have to be cut and the poor left to their own devices, survival of the fittest. Why waste good taxpayers money. In a decade if you cannot afford to pay a doctor, sod off and die, never mind hospital bills. If successful people breed, then it will be a better world, and if the poor die needlessly then it frees up more money. When corporations and governments collude in their aims, then the rest are excluded, and this process is slow, a gradual death of thousands of cuts, that eventually one day people wake up to realise they have been disenfranchised, robbed, and left with next to nothing. This so called decade or two recession is designed to put the majority of people back to the status they had in the middle ages, debt serfs, who do not deserve a decent education, decent health, decent living conditions, it is seen as waste of resources, money down the drain. If you cannot pay then you are really seen as non persons, but that is the future. Enjoy and enjoy complaining as you gradually experience each cut, ther are so many more to come, so stop complaining. The legal one is just one, get a life. Justice, fairness, for the poor and needy, are you all having a laugh, or are you living in fairyland or smoking happy plants? Keep being delusional, its less pain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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