Attorney Generals Office
Fee notes for work done by panel counsel
Please submit your invoices in the form of monthly (or any discrete period) fee notes. They must include:
- the GLD case reference (made up of 8 characters eg Z1234567 or LT89101K)
- a clear differentiation between fees for legal work and other categories of fees and expenses
- a reasonable description of the work done, broken down into date entries and the activities undertaken
- the relevant hourly rate
- the time spent
- where payable, the time spent travelling and not working (paid at half the hourly rate)
Any fee note that does not contain a GLD case reference or contains an incorrect GLD case reference will be automatically rejected by our payment system. The case reference must be obtained from the relevant GLD case officer on initial instruction.
Please note that rolling fee notes, duplicate fee notes, brief fees and refreshers are not acceptable and will be automatically rejected and you will be notified by email.
Please also be aware that if GLD makes an overpayment of fees this must be returned. The amount in question cannot be used against other GLD cases because not only may the client be different but because it does not give us a clear audit trail in respect of our expenditure.
It is important that your fee notes do not contain additional information that could compromise our cases and reputation if the fee note were to go astray. Send the fee note to:
GLD: Case-Related invoices
PO Box 678
Winchester
SO 23 5AB
It is very important that only fee notes and invoices are sent to the Winchester address. All other correspondence - but not case papers - must be sent to the Government Legal Department (GLD) at 102 Petty France, Westminster, London, SW1H 9GL.
You can submit fee notes electronically, but only in PDF format, to gldcaserelated@boxit.co.uk. If you are sending more than one invoice or fee note, each one must be in a separate PDF file.
Software to convert documents to PDF format is freely available for download from the internet but if your clerk would like some assistance, please contact panelcounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk
If you have submitted a fee note but have not been paid, please send an email to accountspayable@governmentlegal.gov.uk. Please quote the GLD case reference in the subject line. One of the finance team will contact you to explain what is causing the delay in payment and when you can expect to be paid. Do not send a duplicate / reminder fee note as it will be automatically rejected as a duplicate request.
There have been some instances recently where fee notes have been received many months, sometimes years after the work was done. In some cases the departmental client has refused to pay. The budget for the matter in question has long since disappeared. Please be aware that if you do not submit fee notes promptly, ideally within three months, or actively pursue outstanding fee notes, there is a risk that they will not be paid.
Payment by BACS
BACS payments will save public money and arrive more quickly in the relevant bank account. Your clerk will receive confirmation of payment. If you would like to be paid by BACS, contact accountspayable@governmentlegal.gov.uk
Rates
London panel counsel
- London A panel - 120 per hour
- London B panel - 100 per hour
- London C panel - 80 per hour if over 5 years call. 60 per hour if under 5 years call.
The rate of pay rises if/when you are promoted from C panel to B panel, or from B to A. The change in rate is immediate.
Regional panel rates
- Regional A Panel - 110 per hour
- Regional B Panel - 90 per hour
- Regional C Panel - 60 per hour
PIL panel rates
These are the same as the three London panel rates.
Off panel juniors and Junior juniors (formerly Baby barristers)
Off panel junior counsel are paid at panel rates.
- Junior juniors (2nd six pupils): 25 per hour
- Junior juniors (tenants): 45 per hour
- Junior juniors (3rd six pupils): 45 per hour
Rates for KCs (silks)
Where an A panel member takes silk, they can continue to act in cases where they have already been instructed without the need for a nomination for a period of 12 months. They will do so at existing A panel rates.
As a general rule when counsel take silk (and are doing work for which a nomination is required, i.e. work they did not start as A panel) they are paid at the rate of 180 per hour. The standard range of hourly rates for government work for KCs is between 180 and 250 per hour but there has been a freeze on any increases since 2010. The vast majority of those KCs doing work for government therefore do so at the 180 rate. In exceptional circumstances the Attorney Generals Office can agree an increase.
Where an increase is agreed it may be agreed in relation to a particular matter or agreed in general. Where a general increase in the hourly rate is agreed, this will normally apply to all work (including existing work) carried out after a specified date. Clerks should, however (unless the number of cases renders this impracticable) discuss the effects of any general increase in any particular case with the case holder.
Fixed fees for permission hearings
There is a fixed fee of 350 plus VAT for permission hearings in immigration judicial review proceedings.
The decision to pay a fixed fee rather than pay strictly according to the hourly rate reflects the swings and roundabouts nature of oral hearings in permission applications. The fee takes into account the average preparation time for a case in which there is usually an AOS (setting out the defendants arguments) and the fact that counsel for the defendant Secretary of State is not always called upon to speak.GLD will pay for cases which are withdrawn within 24 hours of the hearing as it is reasonable to expect you to have read into the case within that period and incur some charges.
On cases that are adjourned on the day, GLD will pay the standard fee for that first adjourned hearing and then pay half the full standard fee for any relisted hearing.
Clearly if the case is out of the ordinary, then GLD may be prepared to pay more