New consumer research commissioned by the Legal Services Board (LSB) has given a boost to the current trend for fixed fees for private client work.
The LSB report, Prices of Individual Consumer Legal Services, found that firms which display prices on their website or offer fixed fees tend to be cheaper. About 17% of 1,506 firms surveyed display their prices. About three-quarters of firms offer fixed fees for uncontested divorce and 42% do so for complex divorces where the couple have children.
Firms in the south-east of England charged significantly higher prices than firms located elsewhere. The mean price for sale and purchase of freehold properties is £1,076 in the north and £1,485 in the south-east.
More than two-thirds of firms said their prices had remained the same over the past 12 months. Four per cent had reduced their fees.
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