Many people are reluctant to instruct solicitors because of concerns about costs. This is understandable as legal services have a reputation as being expensive. Many of them are.
You may have seen that, where possible, we at MJV Solicitors publish our fees on our website. We have an obligation to publish some of these, but go beyond what we are required to. Some of our competitors do not even comply with the basic requirements. What have they got to hide?
We do this because we believe in openness, transparency and honesty when it comes to pricing. Some of our fees are even advertised in our window.
It is not always possible to give a fixed price at the outset and sometimes estimates change, but we feel it is important that our clients have assurance that there will be no nasty surprises when they receive their bill.
Fixed fees are when we provide a service for a set price no matter how much work is involved. We offer these for residential conveyancing, wills, Lasting Powers of Attorneys and simple probate matters.
Capped fees are when we charge by the our, but agree a maximum price. For example, if we cap our fee at £1,500, but only £1,200 of work is necessary, that is all you pay. However, if we did £1,800 of work then you would only pay the agreed cap of £1,500. We offer these for commercial property, some litigation and more complex probate cases.
There are other areas of law where we are able to agree to a no win no fee basis, which normally includes us taking a percentage of any money we recover in addition to our costs being paid.
We offer a free initial 30 minute consultation and, following that meeting, we will provide you with our fee estimate. You will then have all the information you require in advance of making a decision about whether to proceed with us.
If you have a legal matter and are concerned about cost, please call us on 01253 858231 to discuss it arrange your free, no obligation appointment.
by MJV&Co
As lawyers, we know what we do well and, when something is outside of our expertise, we obtain advise and assistance from experts. We believe this should be applied to the way we operate as a business as well.
It is because of this that we are delighted to announce that we have appointed Alcimi as our social media partners.
You may have seen our posts on Facebook as Housing Disrepair Claims and this is the first of many campaigns to be designed and orchestrated by our colleagues at Alcimi. Paul Foules, Director of Alcimi said, “It’s great to work with Michael and the team at MJV Solicitors and we all hope and expect this to be he start of a long and fruitful partnership.”
At MJV Solicitors, we could not be happier to work with Paul and his team. They have provided us with a smooth and professional services. Social media is a vital marketing tool for any business and yet it is something that is easily neglected when clients’ cases need our attention. Managing Director, Michael Vincent said, “It’s always easy to put off the marketing of the business when there is work to do and so it’s great to have a team behind us that we can trust to run the social media side of things. The focus is going to be on the housing disrepair side of the business at the start and we are then going to try and focus on other areas such as will, lasting powers of attorney and conveyancing. i couldn’t be happier to have a professional and experienced firm such as Alcimi handling this for us”.
If you would like to follow our lead and take on a social media partner, Alcimi can be found at https://alcimi.com/ where there is an online contact form or called directly on 0161 296 2980. From our experience, it is a decision you will not regret.
by MJV&Co
There has been much talk of the General Data Protection Regulations or GDPR across the media. Following the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica scandal that continues on, the subject of personal data and how to protect it has been in the news almost every day.
The Information Commissioner’s Office or ICO have been publicising the need for all businesses to register with them and to take steps to comply with the rules prior to 25 May, but almost all our small business clients have taken little of no action to date. Matthew Vincent of MJV Solicitors said, “I’ve spent days looking into GDPR and how it will affect our small business clients. Most of them seem to think it does not apply to them, but when I explain to them that it does, they get worried that it will be an added burden that they do not need.”
The guidance provided by the ICO is comprehensive, but changes or is added to all the time and most small business owners simply do not have the time to spend two to three days reviewing it. MJV Solicitors will provide you with a complete solution to GDPR compliance for a fixed fee. Time is running out to comply by 25 May 2018 and so contact us today on info@mjvlaw.co.uk, 01253 858231 or DM us to arrange an appointment.
by MJV&Co
The decision of the Supreme Court to scrap fees in the Employment Tribunal will make bringing a claim easier for former employees who feel that they were unfairly dismissed.
The temptation is often to try and avoid the cost of instructing an expert lawyer and running the claim for unfair dismissal yourself, but this is, normally, a mistake.
Employment law and the law of unfair dismissal is complex and even the process for assessing the level of compensation can be difficult.
At MJV & Co Solicitors, we offer a no win no fee agreement to clients whose unfair dismissal claims we accept. The fees we charge are capped at a percentage of the amount you recover and so from the outset of any unfair dismissal claim you will know the amount of compensation you will keep as a percentage.
by MJV&Co
When the government “consulted” on reforms to whiplash claims, the only people they really listened to were insurance companies.
The number of claims is already on the way down. The last round of reforms have not yet properly taken effect and yet, rather than monitor their success, they have sought to significantly reduce the level of compensation to be paid for whiplash claims and, essentially, eliminate legal costs from the claims altogether.
Insurers have a vested interest in these claims being stamped out. They have already backtracked on the amount of saving that can be expected for the average motorist and we can safely assume there will be no genuine saving when the reforms are finally implemented.
Anyone who has suffered from whiplash following a road traffic accident will know that it has a serious and detrimental effect on your life. You have reduced sleep and the sleep that you do get is of an inferior quality. It affects your work, your social life and your general well being, which is why the Courts and the Judicial Studies Board have set compensation at the appropriate levels for decades.
A Claimant who suffered a 12 month whiplash injury, using the current scale, would receive up to £3,630 in general damages (personal injury compensation). Following the forthcoming whiplash reforms, the same injured party would receive £1,190.
During the last wave of reforms to the industry, legal costs were reduced and Claimants now normally pay 25% of their personal injury compensation to their solicitor who receives a small amount (comparatively to previous levels anyway) from the insurer of the at fault vehicle. From October 2018, they will receive nothing from the insurer and so costs will be limited to 25% of the compensation received. This will inevitably lead to the closure of dozens of specialist personal injury firms and or claims being run by unqualified staff at Claims Management Companies as happens now with claims for mis-sold PPI.
All we at MJV & Co can hope for is that the government sees sense and retreats from its position on whiplash and personally reforms to ensure that injured members of the public are adequately compensated for the pain and suffering they endure through no fault of their own. Surely this is better for the greater good than increased profits for insurers.
