We recognise that involving lawyers in low value disputes is not always cost effective, especially on a traditional hourly rate basis.
Cases worth £10,000 or less are ordinarily allocated to the small claims track. Unless you have a contract that allows you to recover legal costs (which we can help with), the rules on that track restrict your recoverable costs to very limited fixed sums if you are successful, even though you may incur significantly higher costs with your solicitor.
SA Law’s fixed fee Small Claims Scheme is specifically tailored to make it commercially viable for you to instruct specialist advisors to deal with low value disputes in a cost-effective way and that leaves you free to focus on running your business.
Our Small Claims Scheme covers cases worth up to £10,000 where the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols applies and is made up of six stages from initial review & claim management, through to trial.
Stage One - Initial Review & Claim Management
- We will carry out a full review and advise you on your prospects of success so you can make an informed decision on whether to proceed or not.
Stage Two - Pre-Action Correspondence / Early Settlement
- If you decide to proceed, we will prepare either a letter before claim or a letter of response to a claim (depending on whether you are a claimant or defendant). We will also advise on any potential settlement options.
Stage Three - Commencing or Defending Proceedings
- If you are a claimant, we will draft the claim form and particulars of claim you need to start your case. If you are a defendant, we will prepare your defence. We can also prepare any counterclaim you may want to pursue for a further fixed fee. In either case, we will conduct the case on your behalf (and subject to your instructions) through to its final hearing or earlier settlement.
Stage Four - Settlement and/or Mediation
- Cases filed after 22 May 2024 will be subject to a compulsory mediation in which a court appointed mediator will work with you to try to settle the matter before the claim progresses further. This is usually done by way of a one-hour telephone mediation. We will help you prepare for the mediation and can represent you at it for a further fixed fee.
Stage Five - Preparation for Final Hearing
- If the case does not settle at mediation, we will prepare a witness statement to support it as well a documentary evidence bundle if one is needed. We can prepare further witness statements, and deal with obtaining any expert evidence the court may allow you to use, for additional fixed prices.
Stage Six - Trial
- We will either help you to prepare for trial if you want to represent yourself or arrange for a barrister to represent you. The barrister’s fees are not included in our fees but we can often arrange advocates that will act for fixed fees.
Enforcement
- The majority of judgments are paid without the need to take enforcement action. However, we can advise on your options and deal with enforcement under the terms of our Debt Recovery Scheme.
Please get in touch with us by email info@salaw.com or telephone 01727 79800 for more details or to discuss fixed fees for your case.
