How much do leading criminal lawyers cost?

The current system of public funding by way of legal aid does not give an accused a real choice of representation, and in many cases the fee is so small that a publicly-funded lawyer, no matter how good his/her intentions are, will be unable to devote sufficient resources to a case. That is why Richard no longer undertakes this work for legally aided clients; he will only act when paid privately.

Richard charges £500 per hour, plus VAT. You can see how this compares to the guideline figures used by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service when carrying out a summary assessment of court costs.

The table below provides a very rough guide of the likely cost of hiring Richard to represent you in a contested case that has reached the court proceedings stage. As a very rough guide, to calculate the number of days divide the total number of witnesses by 3 and round up to the nearest whole number.

If you would like Richard to attend a police station or interview under caution, then he will normally agree a fixed fee of £5,000 inclusive of VAT per attendance.