Jay is the Head of our Litigation Team and has over 30 years’ experience in Civil Litigation and Family Law work. Jay is assisted by a team of professionals.

Jay’s hourly rate is £350.00 per hour plus VAT.  In exceptional cases, where a matter is dealt with on an urgent basis, then Jay will apply a mark-up on the hourly rate of up to 25%.

Any Assistant Solicitors dealing with the matter will charge £200.00 per hour plus VAT.

Paralegal/Legal Assistant rates will be £100.00 per hour plus VAT

(VAT is currently calculated at 20%)

In addition to legal costs, disbursements (expenses) will also need to be paid. Typically, these will be Counsel’s fees, Court fees and in certain circumstances experts’ fees. Note of Court fees payable can be found in the attached link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-in-the-civil-and-family-courts-main-fees-ex50

For small claims (debts up to £10,000.00) our range of costs will be between £2,000.00 – £5,000.00 plus VAT. This will include charges for obtaining instructions to the pre-action correspondence to preparing the Claim Form, to dealing with directions questionnaire and small claims mediation, to preparing witness statements and proceeding to small claims hearing. Court fees and other disbursements will also be payable. These can be found in the attached link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-in-the-civil-and-family-courts-main-fees-ex50 

It should be noted that the usual rule that the loser pays the winners costs is not always applicable in a small claims matter, costs will be at the discretion of the Judge.

Debt claims from £10,000.00 to £25,000.00 will be placed in the fast track list. Fast Track is usually used where there are more complicated issues to be decided. Fast track trials will generally take no more than one day. Our range of costs will be between £5,000.00 – £10,000.00 plus VAT and disbursements.

For debt matters over £25,000.00, these will be placed in the multi-track list. Multi Track is usually used in very complicated cases and enables the Court to decide how to deal with cases in the most suitable way according to the needs of that case. our range of costs will be between £15,000.00 – £30,000.00 plus VAT and disbursements.

With regards to fast track and multi tracks, the loser will usually be ordered to pay the winners costs. These costs will not always be 100% of the actual costs that have been incurred but as a rule of thumb two thirds of the costs.

In any litigation matters, Jay Vadher & Co. will actively encourage settlement and/or mediation/arbitration. These procedures will be time and cost effective and will be discussed at an early stage and considered throughout the process.

The key stages to Court procedures are as follows: –

• Pre action stages where instructions and evidence are obtained from the client and typically a letter before claim/action will be written giving the debtor an opportunity to pay say within 14 to 28 days. If a payment is not received in this time period, then a Claim Form will be prepared.
• Once the Claim Form is prepared, the Court will issue and serve upon the Debtor.
• The Debtor will have 14 days within which to acknowledge and 14 days thereafter to file a Defence/Counterclaim.
• In a Small Claims matter, upon receipt of the Defence, the matter will be case managed with directions, typically a direction for mediation through the Court service. If mediation fails, the matter will be listed for Trial. Typically, a Small Claims Trial will be heard within 9 – 12 months from the issue of the Claim Form.
• In Fast Track and Multi Track cases, following receipt of a Defence/Counterclaim, the matter will be listed for Costs and Case Management Conference when the Court will case manage and provide directions. Directions will typically include disclosure of documents, exchange of witness statements and provision of any expert evidence that may be required. Thereafter the matter will be listed for Trial. Typically, Fast Track matters will usually be dealt with within 1 year, Multi Track matters can take up to 1 to 2 years.

Our Debt Recovery Solicitors are:

• Babulal Nanji Damji Vadher (Jay) – Partner / Solicitor
  
• Amirul Haque – Assistant Solicitor