How much does a solicitor cost?

LegacyUser

Going to need to get one soon for an appearance in the district court charged with doing something stupid while drunk. Anyone used one before? And what was the cost?

crotalus667

Unregistered wrote: »

Going to need to get one soon for an appearance in the district court charged with doing something stupid while drunk. Anyone used one before? And what was the cost?

depends on how good of a one you want you might be better off trying the legal section

wexford202

Prob a couple of hundred euro or see if you can get free aid. behave yourself

LegacyUser

If you are being prosecuted you should be entitled to free legal aid.

finbarrk

Around €100 - €150 should do it.

Jo King

There is no legal aid unless there is a risk of jail. Most unlikely in the case of a public order offence or a first offence. The best thing to do is go to the local District Court sittings and see which solicitors deal with offences of the type involved. Ask some of them for a quote. The legal aid solicitors will usually have a number of cases in court every day and will usually be reasonable in price. I

LegacyUser

So just go in and ask random solicitors or is there any I should be looking out for? Do they just walk around?

Zaph

Asking how much a solicitor costs is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. Prices can vary quite a bit, especially if you decide to go to one of the more prestigious firms, and without knowing the exact nature of your charge and how long it will take to deal with, it's pretty much impossible to give an accurate price. Your best bet really is to get quotes from a few different firms, as was suggested.

Victor

Make some phones calls http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=60883107&postcount=2

SV

Mine cost 173 for several motoring offences.

Waste of money in my opinion, but it makes you look better./

JonathanAnon

SV wrote: »

Mine cost 173 for several motoring offences.
Waste of money in my opinion, but it makes you look better./

Agree absolutely. Waste of money, but will not look good for you if you defend yourself. Remember all judges were solicitors/barristers at one stage, so they wouldnt like people to be so bold as to defend themselves without paying a few quid to their friends.

Mine cost 300 euro for two appearances in court, and looking through statements.

Trankton

I had a very similar thing a few years back (SDA - stupid drunk arrest) and they actually make you get a lawyer in the court (couldn't believe it) when there's absolutely now need. So got one in the end and it was about 260 euro, that was at least 5 years ago. Good luck.

Jo King

Unregistered wrote: »

So just go in and ask random solicitors or is there any I should be looking out for? Do they just walk around?

When you go to the District Court in session all the solicitors will be sitting in front of the judge. As cases are called whichever solicitor is dealing with the case will stand up. In some cases legal aid will be assigned by the judge to one of the solicitors present. Go and watch this being done on a day ahead of the date you are due in court. You will thus know who the legal aid solicitors who operate in that court are. You could try decide which of them you would have confidence in. it is better to contact them by phone and ask for a price.

board om

If you are unemployed or you earn under a specified amount, then you are entitled to Free Legal Aid.

If you are in full time employment and earning over the specified amount you will have to pay. the average these days is about €300 - €400, but could be up or down from that. it is based purely on your circumstances.

the judge will tell you if you are eligble for Free legal Aid.

If you are in Dublin District Court then there will be plenty of Solicitors there and you can ask one to represent you or you can ask the judge to assign one to you. they will happily take your case.

If it is Dublin District Court then I would highly recomend any solicitor from Terence Lyons & Co. They are some of the best in the business and they will do as much as they can for you. There is always someone there from this firm so you will have your pick, but i have yet to meet a bad solicitor from this firm.

dont worry about not having a solicitor on your first appearance. if the judge thinks the case is serious enough to warrant a solicitor then he will remand the case for another date to give you time to get you case ready.

good luck

Jo King

board om wrote: »

If you are unemployed or you earn under a specified amount, then you are entitled to Free Legal Aid.

Not correct. It depends on the offence. If there is no risk of jail then no legal aid even if unemployed or earning little. Most public order offences do not attract legal aid, nor do a lot of motoring offences.

edgy

I work in a Solicitors Office and we charge €200.00 plus VAT or more depending on the amount of Court appearances etc