about us / cost / timescale / get started
how can we help you?
who are we?
We are a growing law firm in the Mole Valley district of Surrey providing specialist property and private client advice
We aim to be the pre-eminent small law firm in Mole Valley.
We provide excellent legal services tailored to meet your individual needs through investment in people, training and resources.
Over the years we have earned a reputation for being expert, meticulous and professional.
We are completely independent. We are thorough. We do not pay referral fees. Your interests come first.
Working with you as your solicitor is a privilege, and this is reflected in everything we do.
Welcome to Julie West Solicitors.
what will it cost?
Our price promise
The fee
We use our experience to determine our fee estimate. Our fees reflect the urgency, complexity and value of our work for you.
We don't use a one size fits all approach, we adapt for your needs and budget.
Invoices
Frequency of invoicing is set by the type of retainer:
Investigation of facts and reporting on options
Pay half the budget on starting work and the remainder on delivery of our report or after two months, whichever is the earlier.
Drafting documents
Pay for the work on delivery of the draft document.
Transactional work
Pay an initial fee on starting work, with remaining budget invoiced in advance of completion or every two months, whichever is the earlier.
Stand alone advice
Agree a fixed fee paid in advance of the appointment with your solicitor in person or on the telephone.
Value to you
We see people at significant and sensitive moments in their lives.
You can rest assured that Julie West Solicitors have breadth and depth of training plus years of experience.
We are trained in the law and also to listen, to look at your situation from every angle.
As property and private client solicitors we will examine the facts in meticulous detail. We analyse your options and provide advice in plain English.
Don’t expect fireworks: reliable legal advice takes time and careful thought. You can be confident that your legal work is being handled by an expert.
Our promise
We will bring all our knowledge, experience and resources to your legal work to give you the best legal advice around.
We will provide you with an estimate of the legal costs at the outset.
We will invoice your work at regular intervals to help you manage your legal costs.
We will review the cost of our work against the original estimate at regular intervals, and we will tell you if the estimate is likely to be exceeded, so that you can decide whether and how to proceed.
We will work with you to manage your legal costs and suggest ways to minimise the cost of our work for you. This might include for example, appointing a single point of contact where we are working for several individuals in relation to the same matter.
We will account to you promptly at the conclusion of your matter with a full closing statement and any balance held on your client account.
how long will it take?
Clients naturally ask how long their work will take.
It is helpful for you to have an idea of “normal” time frames. Occasionally the next step is outside our control.
We provide indicative timescales for stages of the work to help you to monitor progress, and we appreciate your checking back with us at intervals to compare notes.
Short timescales
When you are put under pressure to do something quickly, stop and ask yourself why. In our experience an unreasonable deadline often means you are about to act to your disadvantage.
While we pride ourselves on being able to meet tight timescales if necessary, this is likely to increase the cost and risk of the transaction if due diligence is skimped and inadequate time allowed for reflection.
A typical scenario might be where a developer allows you only 4 weeks to exchange on a new build property.
Extended timescales
We know how terrible it is to feel that your situation is out of your control so we update you regularly.
Sometimes the work does take longer than anyone expected because of complications beyond our control. If we think it would be more cost effective to adapt to a more forgiving timescale, we will tell you.
Busy Times
There can be intense moments: an urgent instruction because of a terminal illness, a relationship breakdown or an exchange ultimatum.
When the team is “fire fighting” we ask you to recognise that we deal with high value matters of crucial importance to our clients. Some urgent work simply must come first. That priority case could be yours.
how do I get started?
Let's talk
Complete our enquiry form to get in touch with us: