Fees / Legal Aid

In the majority of defence court cases Legal Aid will be available to you.   Legal Aid is funded by The Scottish Legal Aid Board.  There are criteria for the grant of Legal Aid which includes a calculation of your financial position.  There are three main types of Legal Aid that can be granted to you, which depend on the nature of the case against you.   

We can advise on Legal Aid and check to confirm if you qualify for assistance.   Clients who receive certain benefits qualify automatically for certain types of Legal Aid on financial grounds.

Even if you are in employment, you may still qualify sometimes with a contribution being payable.  Where a client does not qualify for Legal Aid, we will discuss fees and methods of payments early on in the case.

A useful link to check whether you are eligible for Legal Aid is available on the Scottish Legal Aid Board website: https://www.slab.org.uk/

Information Required

In order to claim Legal Aid, we would require up to date information on your financial position so that we can make an application for Legal Aid.    This information should be taken to your initial appointment with us.  If you do not provide this information at the beginning your application may be delayed as we have to be satisfied that the information you have given about your financial circumstances is correct. 

Please take the following to your initial meeting;

• Note of your National Insurance Number 
• Recent wage slip or accounts if you are self-employed
• Pension or benefit award letter
• Details of any savings/capital – for example bank statement
• If you are married or living with a partner, we will need to know the same information about their income and savings, and details of any dependants.