FAQ

The Law Collective is a legal consultancy business. This means that we are not regulated or authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and are not conducting our activities as practising solicitors.

As we are not practising as solicitors, we are unable to undertake what the SRA Handbook refers to as reserved activities. These include:

• Representing clients in court;
• Undertaking formal litigation (which doesn’t include such matters as employment tribunal work and pre-litigation correspondence with a view to settling / resolving a dispute);
• Immigration work;
• The preparation of instruments and the lodging of documents relating to the transfer or charge of land (this includes conveyancing);
• Probate work; and
• The administration of oaths.

Instead, we provide commercial-legal advice to clients through a limited company.

For clients, the main differences between instructing us and using a firm of solicitors are:

• Solicitors’ firms are required to hold a minimum level of professional indemnity insurance of £3,000,000 per claim. The Law Collective maintains professional indemnity insurance to £1,000,000 per claim.
• If you are not happy with the service provided to you by a solicitor, you may raise a complaint with the Legal Ombudsman. However, if you are unhappy with our services, you must raise your complaint with us.
• Solicitors must work in accordance with the rules set out in the SRA Handbook. We are not under such an obligation but aim, at all times, to ensure that our work is carried out to the highest ethical standards and with reasonable care and skill.
• Advice from a solicitor can be subject to legal professional privilege. This means:
• Legal advice privilege (communications between lawyers and their clients which were made for the purpose of seeking or giving legal advice remain confidential and cannot be disclosed except in certain specific circumstances).
• Litigation privilege (communications between lawyers and their clients, or the lawyer or client and a third party, which come into existence for the dominant purpose of being used in connection with actual or pending litigation are also confidential and cannot be disclosed except in certain specific circumstances).
• Our advice does not attract legal professional privilege and you should discuss any concerns you may have with us in this regard. We are always happy to recommend solicitors’ firms in the event that legal professional privilege becomes an essential protection for a client.

However, in terms of the service provided and work undertaken, there will be very little difference between the work that we undertake at The Law Collective and the same work that we would undertake if employed by a firm of solicitors.

We try to keep our rates as low as possible as we want to ensure that clients are able to obtain the right advice to help prevent legal problems and disputes from arising.

The majority of our work is undertaken on a fixed-fee or hourly-rate basis. We try to provide fixed-fee wherever possible so that you know exactly how much the work is going to cost. No surprises.

Our rates (no VAT chargeable):

• £109 per hour for occasional, one-off legal advice.
• £99 per hour for ongoing, regular legal advice.
• Reduced rates may be available for charities or ethically-minded businesses.

The reason we are able to keep our rates lower than those set by a local firm of solicitors in Cornwall is because our overheads are that much lower. We are fortunate in that we can work in an agile and flexible manner, where you are or wherever suits you, our client. Because we are not a law firm, we don’t have overwhelming insurance premiums, obligations to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, office leases, secretarial staff, Christmas parties, trainees or other costs which would ultimately be passed on to you.

We never undertake work which falls beyond our expertise. We are unlikely to be able to conduct a buyout of a billion-dollar multinational, nor can we help you buy or sell a house.

Having trained in a variety of practice areas, including employment law, property law, dispute resolution, banking and insurance, we are comfortable taking on most work in these areas. The kind of work when you don’t need a major law firm but where you do need solid, reliable and clear legal advice.

Whether you instruct a firm of solicitors or a legal consultancy, you never know for certain that the legal advice is going to be correct. Of course, there are ways to limit the risks by instructing major or specialist law firms but even they don’t always get it right. Solicitors are only humans who are interpreting the law: it is not always like a maths problem where there is one right and multiple wrong answers.

What you need is someone with experience in a particular area who understands your needs or those of your business. You need someone to be honest, upfront and capable of saying no. You need someone who is not overloaded with work and is able to give you, the client, the best of their attention. Someone who has got your back.

Advice is partly dependent on the information and full disclosure given by a client. We like to leave as little to the imagination as possible in order to make sure that you are covered for whatever it is that you may need.

In short, our advice is practical, commercial and sound and is based on years of legal and commercial experience. If we are not sure about something or not comfortable taking on work in a particular area, we can happily refer to you to people who may be able to help.