Legal expertise without the usual rubbish

What "without the usual rubbish" actually means

It is easy for a law firm to say it is different. It is harder to publish what it charges. We do, because the single most common question we are asked is not "will I go to gaol". It is "what is this going to cost me".

• A fixed fee, in writing, before we start. Not an estimate, not a range, not "from". If the scope of your matter genuinely changes, we tell you before we do the work, not after.
• What the fee does not cover, stated up front. Barrister fees, expert reports, court filing fees and appeal work are separate, and we tell you that at the first appointment rather than in an invoice three months later.
• Plain English. If we send you a letter you cannot understand, we have failed. There is no legal reason to write to a client in Latin.
• No letters written to make a bill. Correspondence that exists only to justify a time entry is a habit of the billable hour. We do not bill by the hour on most matters, so we do not have the incentive.
• Your calls returned within one business day. Being ignored by your own lawyer while you are waiting for a court date is its own kind of stress.

You can read our fixed fee before you ever speak to us. Very few Queensland firms will show you that, which tells you something about how the profession usually prices this work.

Two offices, one state

A law firm on the Gold Coast that cannot get to Brisbane, or a Brisbane firm that treats a Southport mention as an inconvenience, will cost you money in adjournments and travel. We keep both offices for the same reason: the overwhelming majority of Queensland criminal and traffic matters start in a Magistrates Court, and the two busiest are Southport and Brisbane.

Our Southport office is on Davenport Street, a short walk from the Southport Magistrates Court. Our Brisbane office is on North Quay, directly across from the Brisbane Magistrates Court and the District and Supreme Courts. We also appear regularly at Beenleigh, Coolangatta, Richlands and Holland Park, and we act for clients right across Queensland. Where you cannot travel to us, the first appointment happens by phone or video, and appearances in regional and remote courts are arranged case by case.

If you have been charged, the first 48 hours matter most

Two things happen early in a criminal or traffic matter that are difficult to undo later. The first is a record of interview. In Queensland you generally have a right to silence, and you are not obliged to answer police questions about an alleged offence beyond identifying yourself. People routinely talk themselves into charges that could not otherwise have been proven.

The second is a plea entered before anyone has looked at the evidence. A guilty plea can reduce a sentence, but it should follow a decision, not a panic. Get the brief of evidence, get advice on whether the elements of the offence can actually be made out, and then decide.

If police have contacted you, or you have been charged and given a notice to appear, call us before your first mention date. The appointment is free and it will take less of your time than worrying about it will.