County Court Legal Fees

Estimated fees for Jonathan Lea Network of bringing or defending a claim in the County Court

Claims can vary enormously in subject matter and nature and extent of factual evidence. Even a simple case will need detailed preparation and it doesn’t always follow that the lower the value of the claim, the less costs arise.

The extent to which claims are defended will affect costs.

• Straightforward claim and early settlement: £2,500-£6,000 + VAT
• Heavily contested claim and late settlement: £6,000 -£18,000 + VAT
• Fully contested final hearing:  +£40,000 + VAT

(disbursements such as court fees, barrister’s fees or expert’s fees may also additionally arise).

Cases take around 18-24 months to reach final outcome. Delays can arise because of the need to get access to documents, prepare witness evidence and address all the issues raised or by applications to the Court.

The Court will take an active role in managing the preparation stages and dictate what work needs to be done by both parties.

There are four “tracks” to which cases are allocated in the County Court:

1. Small Claims Track
2. Fast Track
3. Intermediate Track
4. Multi-Track

There are different procedures in each and cases move at a different pace in each of these.

It may be possible to recover costs from your opponent but this is always in the discretion of the Court and in Small, Fast and Intermediate Track cases recoverable costs are fixed.  A full recovery of all the costs you have to pay us would be exceptional. We have a separate note explaining recovery of costs – please ask for it if we have not already supplied you with it.

Litigation is risky and unpredictable.

The estimates above are a rough guide only and relate only to the fees of this firm. Your opponent in a case may have similar, or higher fees and you are at risk of having to pay these fees too if you lose your case.

Losing a case (and losing applications in the course of a claim) will expose you to the risk of costs being ordered against you. We will always discuss such things with you and try to minimise your risk.

In a Multi -Track case the Court will require a detailed schedule of costs to be prepared by both sides. The one prepared on your behalf will operate for you, as a detailed estimate of our fees.

For any queries or if you would like a quotation, please email us on wewillhelp@jonathanlea.net and we will be happy to assist you.