We fight hard in your corner with an eye to getting you back to what you really want to be doing- running your business and living your life.
For an overview of costs in issuing a Court claim, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
Intellectual property disputes
Landlord and tenant disputes including dilapidations and possession
Employment disputes
Support family solicitors in divorce proceedings on the corporate aspects
Contentious probate and trust/beneficiary disputes
Whatever else you might need
Vanessa founded the firm with the clear objective of keeping her clients away from expensive and messy disputes by putting in place the right agreements. With a strong background in litigation, she has seen it hit the fan in just about any imaginable circumstance. She has always been comfortable asking the tough questions, spotting gaps and pitfalls and building contracts designed to prevent problems. Unlike most commercial solicitors who have never seen their work pulled apart by the opposition or judge, Vanessa drafts with this very much in mind.
However, with the best will in the world, it’s just not possible for everyone to steer away from legal disputes. With diverse clients in construction, tech, engineering, finance and more, arguments happen and sometimes people just don’t pay.
Tiger Law can help to negotiate settlements in the background, take over for you and fight in your corner all the way to the High Court but always properly advising you on the merits and risks. As Vanessa has always said, “how much do you want to spend on being right?” – we will never encourage our clients to throw good money after bad nor prolong a dispute. No matter how bitter the pill, if we can bring about an early resolution and save you money, then this is what we will quite firmly advise you.
We work with mediators in a number of fields and will be able to refer matters to specialists where we think a mediated outcome is going to work best for you.
We have low cost debt recovery solutions for those painful smaller debts where the winner doesn’t recover legal costs all the way through to high value, High Court actions. With strong relationships with superb barristers who gladly support us and our clients, we have a very robust and realistic approach. One of our favourite barristers has remarked that working with us puts him on the side of angels because we pick the right fights for the right people.
What we don’t do is give you umpteen options in impenetrable language and leave you to decide “what next?!”
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We will stay by your side, on hand as and when you need us. Nothing is too big or too small.
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Planning, protection and prevention are key to what we do for our clients. But if there is something going awry, or causing you worry, don’t put off dealing with it.
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Minority Shareholder winding up – just and equitable?
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Title: Winding up a company in debt: the death knell for a debtor?
At Tiger Law, we have successfully wound up companies and, on the other side of the coin, we have also successfully blocked people trying to wind up our clients and saved them from aggressive creditors. We have seen many clients considering starting insolvency proceedings against a debtor themselves or either threatened with insolvency proceedings. Whichever side of the proceedings you fall on, once the winding up process is embarked upon, it can be a very lengthy exercise – and expensive if you get it wrong. Generally, due to the seriousness of Company insolvency and winding
Decision Making within a Company
The decisions made within a Company are either the Directors’ responsibility or fall on the shareholders. Whilst quite often, a shareholder will also be a director (and vice versa), it is important to keep the decisions to be made separate. The shareholders make decisions as owners, and the directors make decisions as the managers of the company. When setting up a company, it is often the case that the initial members (shareholders) and directors are friendly and anticipate no issues
Introduction
We have set out below the issues you need to consider in relation to Legal Fees and disbursements for pursuing a debt of up to £100,000.
Our Legal Fees cover all of the work required to handle your case from instruction to conclusion.
Legal Fees
Legal Fees are the amount you will be required to pay for all the work performed by us in actioning your instructions from commencement of your case to conclusion.
These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed, and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs, if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee (e.g. if a one off letter is required), or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed.
Instruction | Our fee (excluding VAT) | VAT (20%) |
Pre-action letter for debts under £10,000 | £295 – £590 | £59-£118 |
Issuing a Claim for under £10,000 | £590 – £885 | £118-£177 |
Sending a pre-action letter for debts of £10,000 – £100,000 | £590 – £1,180 | £118- £236 |
Issuing a claim for £10,000 – £100,000 | £590 – £1,180 | £118 – £236 |
Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:
- The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
- Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost.
- The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
Our fee includes:
- Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation
- Undertaking appropriate searches
- Sending a letter before action
- Receiving payment and sending onto you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing claim
- Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default
- When Judgement in default in received, write to the other side to request payment
- If payment is not received within 28 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs
The value and complexity of the matter alongside the stage at which the matter is resolved are factors that must be taken into account to confirm the fees in accordance with this scale.
If your matter is simple or low value we will discuss with you other fee options that may be available to ensure our fees are proportionate to the value of the debt.
If your matter becomes complex (see below) our fees may increase further and we will notify you in advance of any increased costs.
Should your instructions require us to take your matter out of the fixed fee rate we will charge an hourly rate which is from £225.00 – £375.00plus VAT (£270.00 – £450.00 inc. VAT) and will depend on the experience and qualification of the case handler as follows: –
OUR HOURLY RATES
- £375.00 + VAT (£450.00 Inc. VAT) for a Senior Partner, Senior Solicitor or Legal Executive (of more than 8 years’ experience)
- £345.00 + VAT (£414.60 Inc. VAT) for a Senior Solicitor, Legal Executive, or paralegal (of more than 5 years’ experience)
- £295.00 (£354.00 Inc. VAT) for a Solicitor, Legal Executive, Associate/Graduate Member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (of less than 5 years’ experience)
- £225 + VAT (£270.00 Inc. VAT) for a Trainee Solicitor or paralegal
(Please note that we will not always have all categories of case handlers available e.g. trainee solicitors or junior paralegals)
- For electronic money transfers we will charge the sum of £25 (no VAT) for CHAPS, and less for straight forward transfers
If at any stage our fees change, we will notify you and discuss the reason for any changes. This would typically occur if you change your instructions or your case involves an unforeseen complexity.
Our average fees assume that:
- a) The transaction is concluded in a timely manner and no unforeseen complication arise.
- b) All parties to the transaction are co-operative and there is no unreasonable delay from any parties providing documentation.
Disbursements and Other Costs
Disbursements may be incurred in the handling of the matter for you. In Debt Claims, fees tend to relate to Counsels’ fees and Court Fees.
Counsel fees – If Counsel is required to be instructed a quotation for their services will be obtained from them and discussed with you before they are instructed to ensure you are fully aware of the fees that will be charged. However, we have given examples of costs below:
The fees of a barrister vary depending on the experience of the advocate and their expertise. In our experience, the initial fee for a barrister and the first day of the hearing (known as the brief fee) will be in the region of £1,000 – £3,000 plus VAT (£1200 – £3600 Inc. VAT). Each subsequent day would be an additional £500 – £1,500 plus VAT (£600 – £1800 Inc. VAT).
If you want a very experienced barrister, then the cost is likely to be more. You may also incur additional charges such as travel costs for us to attend meetings and hearings.
Courts Fees – The following link sets out the current court fees https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees. These are only necessary where we are required to issue a claim form via the court.
Additional costs
If there are likely to be additional costs, we will inform you as soon as possible. You may incur additional costs if:
- We need enforcement proceedings
- We need to instruct a Bailiff
Time Scales
Matters usually take 3 – 18 months from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim, and the Court’s timetable. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.
Key Milestones
These are the typical steps we’ll take although individual circumstances differ.
- Take your instructions and review documentation
- Carry out appropriate searches
- Before action, issue a letter to request payment from the debtor
- Take payment and forward on to you
- Draft and issue a claim form to the relevant court for an unpaid debt
- Apply to the court to enter a Judgment in Default if the debtor fails to respond to court proceedings
- Request payment from the debtor where a Judgment in Default has been issued by the court
Factors That Could Make A Case More Complex
The following factors may make your case more complex and impact on your legal fees and disbursements: –
- The matter is defended
- Judgement is obtained and needs to be enforced for example
- Instruction of a Bailiff
- Attachment to earnings
- Making or defending a costs application
Should any of these factors occur we will notify you and discuss with you any increase in our legal fees or disbursements.
Fee Earners
Leonie Savory is a civil litigation Solicitor dealing primarily in Commercial Disputes. Leonie qualified in 2019 and can assist clients with a wide range of commercial and civil litigation disputes. Vanessa Challess is Principle and Founder of Tiger law and head of the Litigation Department with supervision of anyone working on debt recovery matters.