Legal
Refund Policy
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This text has not yet been reviewed and approved. Please do not rely on it. Ask us directly about anything it covers and we will answer.
This policy explains how fees paid to StandingLawyers are treated if work does not proceed or is ended early. Where an engagement letter says something different, the engagement letter governs.
Consultation fees
A consultation fee is payable in advance and covers the meeting and the written summary that follows it. If you cancel at least twenty-four hours before the scheduled time, the fee is refunded in full or the meeting is rescheduled, whichever you prefer. Cancellations inside twenty-four hours, and non-attendance, are not refunded because the time is no longer recoverable. If we cancel, you receive a full refund or a rescheduled meeting.
Where you commission further work within thirty days of the consultation, the fee is credited against it.
Fixed-fee work
Fixed-fee engagements are usually invoiced in part at the start. If you end the engagement before completion, we refund the balance of the advance that exceeds the work already carried out, calculated on the proportion of the agreed scope completed. If we are unable to complete the work, any advance for the unperformed part is refunded in full.
Retainers
Monthly retainers are invoiced in advance for the coming month and may be ended by either side on the notice set out in the engagement letter. A retainer month already begun is not refundable, because capacity has been reserved for it. Unused scope does not carry over unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.
Contentious matters
Fees for litigation and arbitration are billed by stage. If a matter concludes or is withdrawn before a stage is complete, we bill for work done to that point and refund the remainder of any advance held for it.
Third-party costs
Court fees, stamp duty, registration charges, filing fees and similar disbursements are paid to third parties on your behalf and are refundable only to the extent that body refunds them.
How to request a refund
Write to us using the contact details on this site, setting out the matter and the payment concerned. We will respond within seven business days and make any agreed refund by the original payment route within fourteen business days of agreeing it.