What will this cost me?
A free assessment first, then one price agreed in writing. The figures below are the ones we publish — whoever ends up doing the work, the agreed price holds.
The detailed fee schedules
Each service keeps its own published schedule, so the detail sits beside the work it describes.
Start with the part that costs nothing
Two different pieces of work get called a review. Keeping them apart matters, because one is free and one is paid.
Free
The detailed assessment — what you receive
A considered view of your position and the options, which is enough to decide what to do next — including deciding to do nothing. We read the papers that matter and talk to you about what has happened. There’s no charge for that, and no obligation to instruct us afterwards.
Paid
The work you pay for — what you receive
Where a price list uses the word review, it means an extensive review within an agreed scope, delivered as a detailed written view of the position and options — the same kind of document as a written second opinion. Hearing preparation and representation are paid instructions in the same way: the particular work agreed, at a fixed price agreed in writing first.
You only ever pay for the extensive review once you’ve seen the price and agreed it in writing.
The figures we publish
These are the actual prices for each service, not illustrative averages. Nothing is charged until you’ve had a free assessment and agreed the written price for your own matter.
Small Claims Champions
- Claim of £3,000 to £8,000
- £800
- Claim over £8,000 up to £10,000
- £950
For a suitable standard case: extensive review of the papers, one conference, hearing preparation and attendance for up to one day.
Full fee scheduleLeasehold Property Champions
- Extensive review and written view
- from £450
- Further work
- quoted in stages
Depending on the case: a fixed price for an application or representation, staged prices linked to Tribunal directions, or an agreed hourly rate with a budget or cap.
Full fee scheduleEmployers Champion
- Workplace advice and everything up to an ET1
- In monthly fee
- ET3 and grounds of resistance
- £950
- Hearing representation, per day
- £850
- First hearing day, including travel and waiting
- £1,000
- Monthly membership, 1–10 employees
- £95
- Monthly membership, 11–25 employees
- £150
- Monthly membership, 26–50 employees
- £225
- Monthly membership, 51–100 employees
- £325
- Setup, 1–10 employees
- £595
- Setup, 11–25 employees
- £795
- Setup, 26–50 employees
- £1,095
- Setup, 51–100 employees
- £1,495
A single £150 travel and waiting charge applies on the first hearing day only, so each later hearing day is £850. Case management through to a hearing is quoted individually. Counsel’s fees are not included unless stated in writing. The membership has no minimum term and no notice period — cancel future payments at any time.
Full fee scheduleCompany and Commercial
- Every matter
- quoted in writing
Scope varies too much to publish one honest figure. You’re told the price, and any estimate, budget or cap, before paid work begins.
Full fee scheduleLitigation Second Opinions
- Initial review of a case summary and key documents
- free
- Detailed written second opinion
- quoted in writing
The free initial review covers a case summary and up to 50 pages of key documents. A written second opinion is quoted in writing once we have seen them.
How second opinions workTalk Legal Limited is not presently registered for VAT, so no VAT is added to these figures.
Five steps, and only one of them costs you anything
Most people want to know two things before they speak to a lawyer: what will this cost me, and am I being sold something. Here’s the whole sequence, in order.
- 1
Your first contact costs nothing
We talk to you, read the documents that matter and tell you what we think. That’s the free assessment: no charge, no obligation and no pressure to instruct us.
- 2
We decide whether the work is worth doing
We only take on work we believe can be done properly, for a price that makes sense. If we think the case is weak, inefficient or unlikely to produce a worthwhile outcome, we’ll say so rather than take your money.
- 3
You get one fixed price, in writing
The price covers the work we’ve described. It isn’t an estimate that drifts, and it isn’t an hourly meter you can’t see.
- 4
Whoever does the work, the price holds
Some of the work we carry out ourselves. Some of it we instruct a specialist to do. Either way, the price you agreed is the price you pay.
- 5
Nothing is charged until you agree
No fee is chargeable unless you agree our written terms first. That applies to every service we offer.
Who does the work — and who pays for it
Not every legal problem needs the same person. In some matters we undertake the work ourselves. In others we instruct a carefully selected independent specialist.
When you’re deciding about money, the question isn’t only who does the work. It’s whether their cost lands on top of our price or inside it. For us, it’s inside it.
1
Work we carry out ourselves
The work we may lawfully do without authorisation: giving a view, preparing documents, corresponding, negotiating, and attending as a lay representative where permitted.
Your fixed price. Nothing is added to it.
2
Work we instruct a specialist to do
For example an advocate attending a hearing, or an experienced HR provider supporting an employer under a membership. We choose them, we instruct them, and we stay responsible for the matter.
Where the work is inside the scope we’ve agreed with you, their cost is covered by the agreed Talk Legal price.
3
Counsel’s fees
Counsel is not included in our quoted fee unless we say so in writing. If counsel is proposed, we identify the work, explain the charging arrangement and set out any additional fee for your agreement before you are committed to it.
Any counsel’s fee is separately agreed, itemised in writing and added only with your written agreement.
4
Work that requires a regulated firm
Where a matter needs an authorised practitioner, we’ll explain the position and arrange an introduction or a separate engagement where possible.
That firm’s own terms, regulation, insurance and fees apply, and its fee is agreed with that firm.
What the quotation tells you
Our written quotation identifies the work included in Talk Legal’s fee. Where we arrange an independent specialist to carry out work included in that agreed scope, their cost is covered by the agreed Talk Legal price.
Anything outside that scope — additional work, counsel’s fees or a separately engaged regulated firm — is identified and agreed with you in writing before you are committed to it.
They work to our standards, not alongside them
Why a fixed price is possible at all
We decline a good deal of the work we’re asked to do.
We don’t take on a case we expect to lose, and we don’t take on work that would be done inefficiently. Both would have to be paid for by somebody, and that somebody would be you — either through a price high enough to cover the cases that go wrong, or through work that was never going to achieve anything.
Being selective is what makes a fixed price honest. A service that takes on anything has to price for everything. We price for the work we’ve actually agreed to do.
It’s also why our assessment comes before our price, and never the other way round.
If the work turns out to be larger than expected
Fixed means fixed. If a matter takes longer than we expected, that’s our problem, not yours. We don’t come back for more unless you agree in writing first, and our written terms say exactly that.
If the scope genuinely changes — the other side takes an unexpected step, or the court or tribunal issues directions nobody could foresee — we’ll explain what changed, what it would cost and what the options are, before any of that work is done. You decide, in writing, whether to proceed.
Where the fixed price doesn’t apply
There’s one honest exception. If a matter needs a regulated firm — work only an authorised practitioner may do — the fixed price stops applying, because that firm’s own terms, regulation and insurance govern its work.
We’ll explain that plainly and, where possible, arrange an introduction or a separate engagement. You’ll be told before you’re committed to anything, and you won’t discover it in an invoice.
What we mean by “fixed prices”
When the money is actually paid — in advance, or within 14 days — is set out on how and when you pay.
Three phrases, used precisely
Fixed price means one number for a defined piece of work, agreed in writing before the work starts. It does not move because the work took longer.
From £450 is used in one place only — the extensive review and written view, where the work depends on the volume of papers. It is the lowest price that work is offered at; the actual figure is confirmed in writing after the assessment.
Quoted individually is Company and Commercial work, priced after we have seen the matter. We do not publish a figure we would then have to change.
Wherever the price is quoted, it is quoted before any paid work begins.
What that looks like in practice
An illustration only, using the published band from our Small Claims Champions fee page. Your own figure is confirmed in writing for your case.
A small claim of £6,500
Fixed price: £800
What the £800 covers
- —Extensive review of the main case papers.
- —One conference by telephone or video.
- —Preparation for the final hearing.
- —Attendance at one final hearing of up to one day.
If a specialist is instructed
Where we arrange an independent specialist to carry out work inside the agreed scope, their cost is covered by the £800. The written quotation identifies what is included.
Counsel’s fees are not included unless we say so in writing, and any additional fee is agreed with you before you are committed to it.
Not included: court fees, expert fees, travel outside the agreed area, accommodation and copying — unless the quotation says otherwise.
Ask what it would cost
Tell us what the matter involves and send the documents that matter. The assessment is free, and we’ll put any price in writing before you commit to anything.
Or email us at win@talklegal.net