How Much Do Solicitors Charge? Hourly Rates, Fixed Fees and Funding Options

Reviewed 30 October 2026 · England and Wales · General information, not legal advice

Solicitors charge by the hour (from about £140 to £580 on the 2026 court guideline rates, depending on seniority and location), by fixed fee for routine work, or on a no win no fee basis. VAT and disbursements come on top.

Most solicitors in England and Wales charge in one of three ways: by the hour, with 2026 court guideline rates running from £142 an hour for a trainee or paralegal outside London to £579 for a senior solicitor in a heavyweight City firm; by fixed fee for routine work such as conveyancing, wills, lasting powers of attorney and uncontested divorces; or on a no win no fee basis for injury and some other claims. VAT at 20 per cent and disbursements such as court and search fees are added on top, and legal aid, legal expenses insurance, a trade union or a free first meeting may mean you pay little or nothing. This guide covers current rates and typical prices, no win no fee, who else might pay, what firms must publish, comparing quotes and challenging a bill.

How solicitors structure their fees

Under the Solicitors Regulation Authority's Code of Conduct a firm must give you the best possible information about how your matter will be priced and its likely overall cost, at the start and again as things change, so you should receive a client care or engagement letter setting out the basis of charging before work begins. Hourly billing is the default for anything whose length cannot be predicted: litigation, contested family finances, employment disputes, complex estates. Time is recorded in six-minute units, so a two-minute email costs a tenth of an hour, and the rate depends on the fee earner's seniority and the firm's location. Fixed fees are standard for predictable work; a true fixed fee does not change if the job takes longer, whereas an "estimate" is only a forecast and can be revised. Some firms also offer capped fees or unbundled services, where you pay for specific tasks and handle the rest yourself.

Two things sit outside the headline figure. Disbursements are payments the firm makes to others on your behalf: court fees, Land Registry and search fees, barristers' fees, expert reports and identity checks. VAT is charged at 20 per cent on the solicitor's own fees and on some disbursements, such as barristers' and experts' fees, but not on court fees, Land Registry fees or stamp duty.

Hourly rates in 2026

The clearest public benchmark is the Guideline Hourly Rates published by the judiciary for assessing costs between parties. They were uprated on 1 January 2025 and again on 1 January 2026, and the current figures by band and grade are:

• London 1 (very heavy commercial and corporate work by central London firms): Grade A £579, B £393, C £305, D £210.
• London 2 (City and central London): Grade A £422, B £327, C £276, D £157.
• London 3 (outer London, plus Dartford and Gravesend): Grade A £319, B £262, C £209, D £146.
• National 1 (a dozen southern counties and the centres of larger cities including Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Nottingham): Grade A £295, B £247, C £201, D £142.
• National 2 (everywhere else in England and Wales): Grade A £288, B £247, C £200, D £142.

Grade A means solicitors and chartered legal executives with more than eight years' experience, Grade B more than four years, Grade C other qualified solicitors and legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience, and Grade D trainees, paralegals and other fee earners. The guideline rates are what a court is likely to allow a winning party to recover, not a cap on what a firm may charge its own client: large commercial firms charge well above them, and many high street firms charge at or a little below.

Fixed fees for routine work

Fixed fees dominate consumer legal work. The Legal Services Board's 2024 price survey of over 1,500 providers found that firms quoting fixed prices were significantly cheaper than those giving estimates, with a standard single will averaging £150 less on a fixed fee. Its median prices across England and Wales give a sense of the market:

• Conveyancing: £2,100 in legal fees for selling one freehold home and buying another, before disbursements; see the guide to legal fees when buying a house.
• Wills: £350 for a complex will, with simple single wills and mirror wills costing less; see how much a will costs.
• Lasting powers of attorney: £425 in legal fees per document, plus the Office of the Public Guardian's registration fee of £92 for each LPA since 17 November 2025.
• Divorce: £750 for a basic uncontested divorce, rising to around £3,000 where mediation and advice on finances are included, plus the £628 court fee from 13 July 2026; the divorce costs guide has more detail.
• Probate: £1,000 for help obtaining a grant, plus the £526 application fee for estates over £5,000; full estate administration is usually charged by the hour or as a percentage of the estate, as explained in how much probate costs.

Other common fixed-fee services include settlement agreements, where the employer normally contributes to the employee's legal costs, single-hearing motoring offences in the magistrates' court, immigration applications and trade mark registrations.

No win no fee and damages-based agreements

A conditional fee agreement means the solicitor is paid only if you win, usually with a "success fee" of up to 100 per cent of their normal charges to reflect the risk. Since 1 April 2013 the success fee cannot be recovered from the losing side, so it comes out of your compensation, and in personal injury cases it is capped at 25 per cent of your general damages and past losses. Most firms also arrange after-the-event insurance against the other side's costs if you lose, with the premium deducted from your damages if you win. A damages-based agreement works differently: the solicitor takes an agreed percentage of what you recover instead of their usual fees, capped at 25 per cent in injury claims, 35 per cent in employment tribunal cases and 50 per cent in other civil claims. The no win no fee guide explains what to check before you sign, including what happens if you drop the claim.

Legal aid, insurance, unions and free advice

Civil legal aid still exists but its scope is narrow. It covers protection from domestic abuse, family cases where you have evidence of abuse, children at risk of being taken into care, homelessness and eviction, serious housing disrepair, debt only where your home is at risk, discrimination, mental health and community care, challenges to public bodies and some immigration and inquest work. You must also pass a means test: GOV.UK's current guidance puts the gross monthly income limit at £2,657 for you and a partner and the capital limit at £8,000, with equity in your home above £100,000 counting as capital, and the government has committed to raising these thresholds in stages, so check before you rule yourself out. Criminal legal aid is separate: police station advice is free for everyone, and court representation is means tested.

Before paying anyone, check whether you are already covered. Legal expenses insurance is often included in home contents and motor policies, typically paying for employment, contract, injury and property disputes up to a cover limit; the insurer may insist on its panel firm until court proceedings are issued, after which you can choose your own solicitor. Trade union members usually get free advice and representation on work problems and often on injury claims. Many firms offer a free or fixed-price first meeting, and Citizens Advice, law centres, LawWorks clinics and Support Through Court provide free help; the guide to getting legal help for free lists the options.

What firms must publish about their prices

Since December 2018 the SRA Transparency Rules have required every regulated firm offering the following services to publish price and service information on its website, or to provide it on request if it has none. For individuals the services are residential conveyancing, uncontested probate where the assets are in the UK, most immigration applications and First-tier Tribunal appeals, summary-only motoring offences dealt with at a single magistrates' court hearing, and bringing unfair or wrongful dismissal claims in the employment tribunal. For businesses they are defending unfair or wrongful dismissal claims, debt recovery up to £100,000 and licensing applications for business premises.

The information must cover the total or average cost, the basis of charging, the experience of the people doing and supervising the work, likely disbursements, VAT, what is included and excluded and the typical timescales. Firms must also publish their complaints procedure, including how to go to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA, and display their SRA number and the SRA's clickable digital badge.

Challenging a bill

If a bill is higher than the estimate or includes work you did not authorise, start with the firm's own complaints procedure, which it must have told you about at the outset. The firm has eight weeks to give a final written response. If you remain dissatisfied, or hear nothing within those eight weeks, you can go to the Legal Ombudsman, a free service that can order a firm to reduce or refund fees, redo work, apologise or pay compensation up to a combined limit of £50,000. You must complain to the Ombudsman within one year of the problem, or within one year of when you should reasonably have realised there was one, and within six months of the firm's final response.

You also have a statutory right under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 to have a bill assessed by the court. Apply within one month of receiving the bill and the court must order an assessment; between one month and twelve months the court has a discretion; after twelve months, or after you have paid, you must show special circumstances, and no assessment is possible once twelve months have passed since payment. If the bill is reduced by a fifth or more the solicitor normally pays the costs of the assessment; if by less, you do. The guide to complaining about a solicitor walks through both routes, and the SRA deals separately with dishonesty or misconduct rather than the size of a bill.

How to compare quotes, and what to do next

Get two or three quotes for anything not urgent and compare them like for like: fixed fee or estimate; what is included and excluded; the hourly rate and grade of the person doing most of the work; the disbursements expected and whether VAT applies to each; how often you will be billed; and whether a fixed-fee package or an unbundled service would suit you better. Confirm that the firm appears on the SRA register and read the engagement letter before signing it. If you win a civil claim the loser usually pays part of your costs, but rarely all of them: for most money claims worth up to £100,000 recovery has been limited to fixed sums since 1 October 2023, small claims recover almost nothing, employment tribunals seldom award costs, and in family cases each side pays its own.

When you are ready to instruct, the solicitor and barrister guide explains who does what and when a barrister's fee will appear on your bill. You can browse the solicitors in London listings, compare employment solicitors in Newcastle, look for property solicitors in Nottingham or start from the solicitors near me search. Specialist firms are grouped by service, from conveyancing and property solicitors to employment law solicitors.

Frequently asked questions

Why do solicitors charge in six-minute units?

Because time recording software divides the hour into ten units and most firms round each piece of work up to the nearest unit. A short email or phone call therefore costs a tenth of the hourly rate even if it took ninety seconds, and a dozen quick exchanges in a day can add up to an hour. If this worries you, ask the firm to batch correspondence, agree a fixed or capped fee, or confirm that routine letters are not charged separately.

Is a solicitor's estimate binding?

An estimate is a forecast, not a promise, and the firm can revise it if the matter becomes more complicated, but it must tell you promptly when costs are likely to exceed it and explain why. A court assessing the bill, or the Legal Ombudsman, will look hard at an estimate that was exceeded without warning and may hold the firm to something close to it. A fixed fee or a capped fee is binding in a way an estimate is not.

Do I have to pay VAT on solicitors' fees?

Yes, at the standard rate of 20 per cent, on the firm's own charges and on disbursements that themselves carry VAT, such as barristers' fees, expert reports and most searches. Court fees, Land Registry fees and stamp duty land tax carry no VAT. Published prices must say whether VAT is included, so a quote of £1,000 plus VAT means £1,200. Businesses that are VAT registered can usually reclaim it; individuals cannot.

Can I pay a solicitor for only part of my case?

Yes. Many firms offer unbundled or pay-as-you-go services, where you instruct them for defined tasks, such as checking a document, drafting a court form or representing you at a single hearing, and handle the rest yourself. It is common in family and smaller civil cases. The engagement letter must set out exactly what the solicitor is and is not responsible for, so read it carefully, because anything outside the agreed scope is your risk.

If I win, will the other side pay my legal costs?

Sometimes, and rarely in full. In civil court claims the loser is usually ordered to pay the winner's costs, but assessed costs are typically a proportion of what you actually spent, and for most claims worth up to £100,000 recovery has been limited to fixed amounts since October 2023. Small claims recover almost nothing beyond court fees. Employment tribunals seldom order costs, and in family cases each side normally pays its own.

What happens if I cannot pay my solicitor's bill?

Tell the firm early: most will agree instalments, and some will defer fees to the end of a case where money is expected from a sale or settlement. A solicitor can hold your file until unpaid fees are settled, charge interest where the terms allow, and ultimately sue for the fees, although they must first deliver a proper bill and wait at least a month. If you dispute the amount rather than being unable to pay, use the complaints process or apply for an assessment within that month.

Related guides

• Solicitor vs Barrister: What Is the Difference and Who Do You Need?
• No Win No Fee Agreements Explained: How They Really Work
• How to Complain About a Solicitor: The Legal Ombudsman and the SRA
• Can I get legal help for free?
• How much does a will cost?

This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.