Driving Offence Fees

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This work will be undertaken by members of our Criminal Team and will be supervised by Sharaz Hussain, Partner.

Driving Offences

Drink driving offence, guilty pleas –fixed fee of £600.00 plus VAT and disbursements.

Fee includes:

  • 2 hours attendance/preparation:
    • considering evidence
    • taking your instructions
    • providing advice on likely sentence
  • Attendance and representation at a single hearing at the Magistrates Court
  • An assumption that our travel time to and from Court will not exceed 2 hours
  • That your case concludes within half a day at Court
  • We will consider initial disclosure, and any other evidence and provide advice.
  • We will explain the court procedure to you so you know what to expect on the day of your hearing, and the sentencing options available to the court.

The fee does not include:

  • instruction of any expert witnesses
  • taking statements from any witnesses
  • advice and assistance in relation to a special reasons hearing
  • advice or assistance in relation to any appeal
  • travel time in excess of 2 hours
  • any hearing that lasts more than half a day
  • additional costs incurred by interviewing witnesses and taking statements from them
  • Further meetings with our legal team other than the above two hours to provide instructions on what happened.
  • We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court listing for that day.
  • Any matter that is adjourned for a special reasons or exceptional circumstances hearing to another date.

Other associated costs for contested driving matters and Exceptional Hardship / Special Reasons Hearings

  • Driving trial: £1,800 + VAT (this includes preparation and meeting with representation at court but not any extra disbursements such as expert reports etc)
  • Exceptional Hardship/Special Reasons Hearings (including preparation): £1,200 + VAT
  • The fees quoted in this section do not include any work required for appeals (advisory or otherwise) either in writing or representation in court.  Fees for this work will have to be quoted separately on a case by case basis.

A word about Special Reasons

There are some cases where the facts of the case make it possible to argue that the law does not require a person who is guilty of a drink-drive offence to be given the mandatory disqualification.

These cases are unusual, but not rare, and they depend entirely on the very specific facts of the circumstances of the offence events. They are argued on law, and are not about mitigation.

If your case needs special reasons to be argued the court will usually fix a day for that hearing, which in many respects will be like a trial and may need expert evidence. We will advise you whether this is a viable option based on the facts of the case and your instructions and the costs involved.