Criminal motor defence

This section applies to our advice to you in respect of a motoring offence with which you have been charged.  It applies only where the offence in question is a “summary” offence, in other words, an offence which would normally be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court.  Examples of such offences include: driving whilst disqualified; driving without insurance; careless and inconsiderate driving; driving whilst unfit (alcohol or drugs); failing to give information as to the identity of the driver; failing to stop or report; and speeding.

Our overall fees for representing you in summary only road traffic offences in the magistrates' court will vary depending on how complex your case is and what you would like us to do. This section provides a guide to how we calculate our charges and an indication of how much the typical case is likely to cost. For an estimate tailored to your specific matter, please contact us on and we will discuss your matter and needs with you and provide you with a bespoke cost estimate.

Our charges

Our charges consist of:

• Our professional fees for the legal work.
• Costs and expenses paid to others in order to progress your matter, such as court fees. We handle making these payments on your behalf during the course of your matter, either using money that you have given us in advance, or invoicing them to you together with our fees. These payments are called disbursements.
• VAT is charged on our professional fees at the applicable rate, which is currently 20%. Many disbursements also carry VAT, and we will inform you of the VAT on each disbursement as we go along.

Legal aid is not normally available for these types of cases and so clients will usually need to pay these costs themselves. If you are likely to be eligible for legal aid funding we shall guide you accordingly.

Calculating our fees

Our fees will either be agreed with you as a fixed fee at the start of your case OR, be based on how much time it takes to deal with your case.

The majority of cases will be dealt with on an hourly rate basis. The standard hourly rates for each type of solicitor or other team member who may be involved in your transaction are:

If we need to rely on our hourly rates, we will endeavour to provide you with an estimate of the time that each member of the team is likely to take in order to conclude your case.

Sometimes, we can offer the fixed fees set out in the table below in simple cases involving the following motoring offences:

If we do not provide you with a fixed price, or if we do additional work for you which is outside the scope of our fixed price, please note that our hourly rates may apply.

Please note that the fee ranges stated above reflect the work that we would expect to carry out in respect of a typical guilty plea or trial case and, where appropriate, is based on the following assumptions:

• That you have a hearing date already listed.
• That your case is not adjourned requiring further attendance.

The factors which may impact on the complexity of your case and therefore the exact time spent and fees charged, include:

• If either of the assumptions listed above proves to be incorrect.
• If the hearing runs beyond half a day.
• The location of the trial/sentence hearing.
• The number of witnesses involved.
• The number of offences charged.
• The instruction of expert witnesses.
• If the court requires a report from the probation service.

Before you commit to paying, we will explain to you any variance from the indicative fee if this is apparent from the outset. We will also keep you updated at all times if any of these, or other, factors are likely to result in an increase in our fee.

Disbursements and other expenses

You may have to pay certain expenses and costs to third parties, which are not included in the fees quoted above.

The costs and expenses most likely to arise are expert’s fees, our travel expenses and, if we consult a barrister to represent you, barrister’s fees. Barristers typically charge at hourly rates which vary according to their seniority. We will however guide you on this as and when such costs need to be incurred.

The amount payable will vary depending on the circumstances of your case. We will aim to provide you with an estimate of such costs when you instruct us and will, of course, keep you updated as the case progresses.

Legal work involved in the transaction

On a guilty plea

The examples of fixed fee above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a summary motoring offence case. The services included are:

• Considering evidence.
• Providing advice in relation to your plea and likely sentence.
• Advising you on the options available to the court in relation to sentencing.
• Advising you on whether you should make an exceptional hardship, or special reasons argument.
• Representation at a single hearing.

The following work, which might be needed in more complicated or contested cases, would not be included:

• The instruction of any expert witnesses.
• Taking statements from any witnesses including character references.
• Providing advice and representation in relation to a special reasons hearing or an exceptional hardship hearing.
• Any hearing at which you admit the offence but not all the facts (a Newton Hearing).
• Any advice on appeal.
• Any fine imposed by the court, surcharge or order for costs made in favour of prosecution.

For representation at trial

The examples of fixed fee above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a summary motoring offence case. The services included are:

• Considering evidence.
• Providing advice in relation to your plea and likely prospects of success.
• Advising you on the options available to the court in relation to sentencing.
• Written plea and case management.
• Minimum attendance/preparation for trial of two hours.
• Representation at a single half-day trial hearing.

The following work, which might be needed in more complicated or contested cases, would not be included:

• The instruction of any expert witnesses.
• Taking statements from any witnesses including character references.
• Providing advice and representation in relation to a special reasons hearing or an exceptional hardship hearing.
• Any hearing at which you admit the offence but not all the facts (a Newton Hearing).
• Any representation in person at a case management hearing.
• Any fine imposed by the court, surcharge or order for costs made in favour of prosecution.
• Any work following the conclusion of your final hearing.

Timescale and key stages

Typical summary only road traffic offence cases do not have many stages and are concluded on the day of your magistrates' court hearing. The magistrates' court date is normally set by the police after your arrest or in the court summons so you should be aware of when your case will be concluded.

These are the key stages of the trial process:

1. Entering a not guilty plea (usually done in writing or online).
2. The prosecution serves its case.
3. Case Management hearing – identifying for the Court the issues in the case and which witnesses will be required. Fixing a date for trial.

This process will typically take 12-26 weeks to complete, but this may vary. Typical factors which may influence the duration include:

• Witness availability
• Local Court availability
• The Crown Prosecution Service resources.

We will keep you updated at all times if any of these, or other, factors are likely to result in a delay.

Who will be dealing with your application?

Your application will typically be handled by a solicitor in our Regulatory team, supported as necessary by our trainees / paralegals.

A solicitor acting for you may be described in correspondence as a “Partner” or “Legal Director”, a “Principal Associate”, an “Associate” or a “Solicitor”. Partners and Legal Directors have equivalent status. An Associate is, generally, more experienced than a Solicitor, but not as experienced as a Principal Associate. Our trainees / paralegals are not (yet) solicitors, and usually have no other formal legal qualification.

We will always ensure that the solicitor acting for you has the requisite level of experience to handle your case competently. In any event, all work will be supervised by a Partner or Legal Director, being the most senior member of the team allocated to you.

Once you know who will be in the team allocated to your transaction, you will be able to find further details of their background and qualifications by visiting the People section on our website.

If you have any queries, please contact:

• Dewi Ap-Thomas at Dewi.Ap-Thomas@weightmans.com
• Martin English at Martin.English@weightmans.com