Summary Only Motoring Offences

Thank you for looking at our services for Summary Only Motoring Offences. These offences can happen to any individual and the penalties can be serious, with potential outcomes including fines, disqualification or in some cases imprisonment.

If you have been charged with a motoring offence, such as speeding, driving without due care and attention or driving whilst under the influence, you will require professional legal advice to help limit any possible consequences.

Our Crime Team is based in our King's Lynn office but can travel and details of our team , including their experience and qualifications, can be found under the Our Team section of our website. All members of the Crime Department are supervised by Alison Muir who is Head of the Crime Department.

Why Us

Our highly experienced Criminal Defence Team regularly represents the motorist client who faces summary motoring matters before the court. We offer a fixed fee to help budget for a case. All of our advocates frequently appear before the court and have at least 15 years experience, often more. Hugh Cauthery and Alison Muir are both Higher Court Advocates with experience and qualifications to deal with hearings before the Crown Court.

Our clients are very important to us and therefore we have set ourselves a guideline that we will respond to your emails, telephone calls, letters or faxes by return and in any event within 24 hours. When the advocate dealing with your case is not available to answer your queries then our dedicated team of experienced support staff will be happy to help.

You will have the confidence that you are our priority, with our aim being that any member of the team is available to speak with you when you need some clarity and certainty at any stage leading up to, during and after your hearing.

We are proud to hold Lexcel, Peer Review and Criminal Litigation Accreditations, issued by the Law Society. These involve the firm undergoing rigorous audit processes which ensures that we maintain the highest levels of client care and quality of work.

Pricing

Our fees for dealing with summary only motoring offences can vary, depending on whether the plea is Guilty or Not Guilty and the number of hearings involved. We will need to obtain all the facts and details of your personal circumstances and will liaise with the Court and the CPS in advance and on the day of any hearing.

Our fees will typically include all telephone calls, letters and emails as well as client care in accordance with our Lexcel and Peer Review status. We will attend upon you at our office to take your full instructions, advise you on the evidence and the court procedure and answer any questions you may have. We attend court to represent you at each hearing of your case and then report back to you including our advice, if appropriate, on appeal:

We offer fixed fees to undertake your work, which are detailed below:-

For a guilty plea summary offence such as drink driving our fixed fee is £700 + VAT of £140.00 ( a total of £840) plus an additional £200 plus VAT of £40.00 ( a total of £240.00) if the case is adjourned to another day.
For a guilty plea speeding offence where the case does not fall under the Courts totting up procedure our fixed fee is £700 plus VAT of £140.00 ( a total of £840.00)
For a special reasons guilty plea hearing our fixed fee is £1,000 plus VAT of £200 ( a total of £1,200).
For an Exceptional Hardship argument where you are liable to a disqualification under the Courts totting up procedure, our fixed fee is £1,000 plus VAT of £200 ( a total of £1,200.00).
For a trial in relation to a summary motor offence to include preparation leading up to and including the trial our fixed fee is £1,500 plus VAT of £300.00 ( a total of £1,800) for a half day hearing or £2,000 plus VAT of £400 ( a total of £2,400) for a full day hearing.

Exclusions

Our fees are fixed and include the items detailed above, however there may be factors which would typically increase the fees involved in your case. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

The following expenses are not included in our fixed fee:

The cost of travelling to any court other than our local one at Kings Lynn. This would be charged at 45 pence per mile plus VAT of 9 pence ( a total of 54 pence).
The costs of an expert report which may be required to support the defence.
Obtaining witness statements, whether expert or other.
Acting for you in an appeal.

Time Scales

The majority of summary motoring offences are dealt with to conclusion at the first hearing, which is usually within one month of the date of receipt of the postal requisition or the date of charge.

Where a guilty plea is entered the case is often concluded at the first hearing. However, this can be adjourned usually for no more than a month to six weeks if a special reasons or exceptional hardship argument is to be heard, which may require a separate listing.

Where a not guilty plea is entered the case will be adjourned for a trial to take place which is usually within three months. You should be aware that a summary only motoring matter is considered of low priority by the court when compared to other cases, and is therefore more likely to be adjourned if it is listed on a trial day with other higher priority trials.

Key Milestones

There are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. They may be as follows:

Meeting with your solicitor to provide instructions
Disclosure – where we will consider the prosecution evidence provided and provide advice on that basis
Where an additional cost has been agreed, we will arrange to take witness statements
We will go through the court process with you, so that you are fully aware of what to expect on the day of your hearing
We will discuss the sentencing options available to the court
We will undertake any preparatory work within the time frame of the fixed fee and obtain your instructions
We will attend court on the day and meet you before your case is called into court.
We will discuss the outcome of the court hearing with you, any further steps to take and any additional costs.