Not everyone has the gift of the gab to present the best face of your case to the Court. This is why when individuals have the regrettable experience of being investigated for a crime or even brought to Court, engaging a quality advocate that can both articulate the strengths of your case – as well as advise you on its weaknesses – is critical.
Quality legal representation undoubtedly comes at a cost. Law firms may charge by the hour, or a fixed fee, or a combination of both. Fixed fee criminal representation ranges are generally possible in non-contentious matters (eg. cases where the accused elects to plead guilty), where the scope of work to be done is broadly predictable (eg. letters of representations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, mitigation plea to be presented to the Court), which allows for costs to be estimated in advance. This is in contrast to contentious matters (eg. where the accused elects to claim trial, or a plead guilty case with many contentious aspects), where work done is chargeable by the hour. For example, the cost of one day of trial would be about 10 hours times the hourly rate of the lawyer you decide to engage (comprising 7 hours in the hearing itself and 3 hours preparation before/after Court). A lawyer’s hourly rate is usually commensurate with their number of years of relevant experience.
When trying to select the best criminal lawyer to represent your case, relevant experience is one of the key considerations. At the same time, it is also important to have someone who is able to give you an honest assessment of both sides of your case. Our criminal law team is led by Gloria James-Civetta, our Managing Director with more than 20 years’ experience at the Criminal Bar and whose reassuring presence always puts the most nervous clients at ease. Christine Liu, a feisty ex-prosecutor for 10 years, will stun you with the frankness of her insights into your case, enabling you to be prepared for all outcomes. The best addition is Beverly Lim, an all-rounder who excels both at competitive sports and in the courtroom.
Our firm tailors our billing to suit the requirements of each individual client. Rather than collecting an upfront fee (comprising a lump sum payment of your total legal fees), our firm’s billing method allows you to first place a deposit to allow our criminal lawyers to commence doing legal work for you. This is especially useful when, for example, you have just been arrested and urgently require someone to write in a letter of representations to the police to set out your version of events in a clearer manner, but do not have the funds to pay the full fees from the onset.
Thereafter, further installments of your legal fees can be made on a periodic basis, which allows you to stagger payments according to a schedule that best suits your financial ability.
Our criminal lawyers typically offer a short complimentary first consultation, either in person or over the telephone, which allows you to better understand the billing model, as well as assess the lawyer with whom you have the best rapport to work together with on your case. Additionally, while we have strong paralegal support, what distinguishes our criminal law team is the intense level of personal attention you will have to your case.