English Court System

The Courts system in England works the same way for Civil Cases.  Fees must be placed with them prior to cases being heard.  The fees work on a sliding scale for claims from up to 300.00 Stg. to more than 300,000 Stg.  The inital fees are from 35 Stg to 1,670 Stg and this is just for the first stage.  For Allocation to track the fees are 40 Stg for claims over 1,500 Stg and for Fast track and Multi claims it is 220 Stg (this will apply for where claimants have to take cases against more than one company).  This fee must be paid at the same time as the questionnaire is filed, and if no questionnaire is required, then the fee MUST be paid within 28 days of filing.

 

Pretrial checklist and hearing fees for up to claims of 300 Stg are 25 Stg and this rises in scale to 325 Stg for claims of 3000 Stg and over.  For Fast Track claims, the pre-trial check list is 110 Stg with an extra 545 Stg Hearing fee.  For Multi Track Claims the pre-trial check list is 110 Stg with an extra 1,090 Stg Hearing fee applicable.  These fees must be paid within 14 days of the despatch of the notice of the trial date.  If you do not pay the allocation, pre-trial checklist or hearing fees when required, the court can make an order which may lead to your claim, counterclaim or defence being struck out.  This means  you CANNOT continue with your claim or counter claim. 

NO WIN – NO FEE

RE LAWYERS FEES AND THE NO WIN – NO FEE SITUATION IN SPAIN

 

Lawyers’ fees are set by provincial professional bodies (Ilustre Colegio de Abogados), although individual lawyers often set much higher fees. In general Spanish Lawyers´ fees are lower than those charged by lawyers in northern European countries, starting with a simple consultation of less than half an hour costing from €50.  We do not charge to assess any documents prior to any decision to proceed.  When preparing contracts involving a sum of money, e.g. misrepresentation, these fees are calculated as a percentage of the sum involved upon completion.

Contingent or conditional fee system for litigation (no win no fee) isn’t currently legal in Spain, but it’s under ‘consideration’ so at present ‘No win, no fee’ lawsuits are illegal in Spain.

 

A new act was passed by the Spanish Parliament in 2012, where everyone; no matter which nationality; who is taking a case to court, has to deposit funds DIRECTLY with the lawyers who are taking the case to the courts for the court time, court clerks etc.  In effect this stops any frivolous cases being taken to court and wasting the courts´ time.  The Proviso de Fondos or provisions of funds we ask from you to take this case forward are covered in this.  This law is called la Ley de Tasas Judiciales and came into force on 22 November 2012

 

We hope this information is helpful to you in understanding how the Spanish Legal System works.