Ongoing legal support

I provide ongoing commercial legal support to UK businesses on a monthly retainer from £250 plus VAT a month for up to one hour, £500 plus VAT a month for up to two hours, and £1,500 plus VAT a month for up to six hours. I am Geoffrey Caesar, a solicitor of England and Wales admitted in 2008, based in London and acting for businesses across England and Wales.

Businesses reach a point where the legal questions stop being occasional. A contract a week, a hiring question, a customer wanting bespoke terms, a supplier changing theirs. Paying for each one separately is expensive and, worse, it makes you hesitate before asking, which is exactly when things go wrong.

A retainer means you ask. That is most of its value, and it is why the tiers are capped rather than metered.

What it costs

• Foundation, £250 plus VAT a month. Up to 1 hour. Email access, with calls scheduled when they are needed. Priority turnaround.
• Essentials, £500 plus VAT a month. Up to 2 hours. Email access, with calls scheduled when they are needed. Priority turnaround.
• Growth, £1,500 plus VAT a month. Up to 6 hours. Contract reviews included. Quarterly session.
• Bespoke, from £3,000 plus VAT a month. Heavier involvement for businesses going through a period of change.

Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance and payment is due on receipt of the invoice. A month runs day to day from the date the retainer starts, so a retainer beginning on 18 June runs to 17 July. Document reviews come out of your monthly hours. If you want everything looked at in one go, the legal health check is the fixed fee way to do that, and it is the usual starting point for a new retainer client. No minimum term and one month's notice on either side.

What you get

• Direct access to me by email, with a same or next working day response, and calls scheduled when a conversation is quicker than an exchange of emails
• Contract reviews within your monthly hours
• Ad hoc commercial questions answered without a separate quote each time
• Less reading in each time, because I already know the business, and less explaining before I can get to the answer
• Priority when something needs turning round quickly
• Continuity, which means somebody who knows your business rather than reading in each time

What is not included

• Litigation and disputes
• Unlimited hours, because the tiers are capped and I will tell you when you are approaching the cap rather than afterwards on an invoice
• Property transactions and conveyancing
• Immediate or out of hours availability. Email is answered the same or next working day, and calls are scheduled

How long it takes

Same or next working day on email. Calls are scheduled rather than taken on demand, so that when we speak I have your file open and have thought about the question. Contract reviews within the retainer follow the usual turnaround unless we agree otherwise.

How to instruct me

1. Email me. Send any relevant documents, or three or four lines describing the situation and your deadline. You do not need to prepare a brief.
2. I confirm the scope, the price and the timetable. In writing, usually the same working day, and if a short call would help I will offer one at no charge. I then invoice you, and the work starts once the invoice is paid. Larger pieces of work can be split into milestone payments if that suits you better.
3. I deliver on the agreed date. With a call or a follow-up exchange included, so you are not paying again to understand the advice.

Why instruct me directly

A law firm has premises, partners, support staff, marketing and a compliance department, and every hour it bills has to carry a share of all of it. I have none of that. You are paying for the lawyer and nothing else.

• Senior attention as standard. The person who reads your contract is the person you emailed. Nothing is delegated to a trainee.
• In-house and private practice experience. I know what a clause does to a business six months later, not just what it says.
• No onboarding process. Email, scope, fixed price, invoice, work. There is no client portal to register with and no forms to complete.
• Better value for the same expertise. Without a firm's overheads, senior time costs less, which is why fixed fees at this level are possible at all.
• Fixed prices, published. You know the number before you commit. I publish them because cost uncertainty is the main reason businesses do not take advice they need.

Who this is for

• Legal questions come up at least monthly and you are tired of quoting each one
• Your legal needs are occasional rather than regular, and you would rather have a solicitor already appointed than be looking for one when something lands
• You are growing and the paperwork is not keeping pace
• You want somebody who knows the business rather than starting from scratch each time
• You want a cost-effective way to handle day to day legal queries

Questions I am often asked

How much is a legal retainer?

£250 plus VAT a month for up to one hour, £500 plus VAT a month for up to two hours, £1,500 plus VAT a month for up to six hours including contract reviews, and from £3,000 plus VAT a month for heavier involvement.There is no minimum term and one month's notice on either side.

How and when is the retainer invoiced?

I invoice monthly in advance and payment is due on receipt. A month runs day to day from the date your retainer starts, so a retainer beginning on 18 June runs to 17 July, and the next invoice is issued for the month from 18 July.

Your hours reset at the start of each of those months. If you give notice, the retainer runs to the end of the month you have paid for plus the notice month.

What happens if we go over the hours?

I tell you before you get there, not afterwards on an invoice. Additional work is either quoted as a fixed fee or we move you up a tier, whichever is better for you.

Do unused hours roll over?

No. If you are paying for more than you use, that is worth a conversation rather than a rollover, and I deal with it below under 'What if we hardly use it?'.

What if we hardly use it?

The fee buys availability and continuity rather than a block of hours. You have a solicitor already appointed, who knows the business, and who can pick something up quickly when it lands. For a lot of businesses that is the whole point, and the months where nothing happens are the months it is doing its job quietly.

If you are consistently paying for more than you use, I will say so and we will move you down a tier. Below Foundation the sensible answer is not a smaller retainer but ad hoc fixed fee work, and I will tell you that too.

We already have a law firm. Does this conflict?

Usually not. Plenty of clients keep a firm for litigation and property, which I do not take on, and instruct me for the commercial and corporate work. Where both are involved I am happy to work alongside them.

Should we start with a health check?

For most businesses, yes. A legal health check establishes what you actually have, so the retainer starts from a known position rather than discovering problems piecemeal.

Can we start on the smaller tier?

Yes, and most do. Moving up is straightforward and moving down is equally straightforward.

About me

I am Geoffrey Caesar. I have worked on commercial contracts since 2001, first in industry and then in private practice, so I have sat on both sides of the table: as the in-house lawyer who has to live with the contract, and as the external adviser who drafts it.

• Solicitor of England and Wales, admitted 2008. SRA ID 483394.
• Practising as an SRA-regulated freelance solicitor under regulation 10.2(b) of the SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations. Practice SRA number 666497.
• Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and authorised to provide all legal services, including reserved legal activities.
• Called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 2005.
• Working on commercial contracts since 2001, in-house and in private practice.
• Based in London, acting for businesses across England and Wales.
• Professional indemnity insurance in place with a limit of £1,000,000 for each claim, with defence costs in addition. Details on request.
• I do not hold client money.

Two things you should know about instructing a freelance solicitor rather than a law firm. My professional indemnity insurance is not on the SRA's minimum terms and conditions; alternative arrangements are in place instead, and I will give you the details on request. And you can still apply to the SRA Compensation Fund for losses caused by dishonesty or a failure to account for money. Everything else, including the Code of Conduct, the SRA Principles and the Legal Ombudsman, applies to me exactly as it applies to any other solicitor.

Related services

• Legal health check, £1,500 plus VAT, the usual starting point
• Contract review, £450 plus VAT, if you only need one thing looked at
• How it works

Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.