Transparent Fees.

You will know, and as a rule you will pay everything at the start of the service. There are obvious exceptions, such as unexpected cost overruns. For your peace of mind, however, our policies are built on honesty, transparency and risk management. We give you all of this information so that you can make an informed decision before instructing us.

Legal services are expensive. At PASSAS you generally pay everything first, including ADR and ancillary costs. For a basic legal service, €3,000 is a reasonably comfortable figure. If matters become complicated, the price can rise to €6,000 or more. Bear this in mind before booking your virtual consultation, since the €90 consultation fee is only credited against your fees if a service is finally activated and the first invoice actually paid.

We understand that legal services are a significant investment. If we devote ourselves to arranging instalments and sending payment reminders, however, we lose the focus our work requires. As for contingency fees, popularly known as 'no win, no fee', under article 3.3 of the Code of Conduct for European Lawyers of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe this form of fee is regarded as professionally unethical for EU lawyers. Ours is an obligation of means, not of results. We only offer a success fee on top of our floor rate in exceptional cases.

We never say 'don't worry about the money' or 'this is in the bag'. Here we say 'pay first, not later' and 'these are your risks'. Honesty matters to us: it is a differentiating value and our mark of excellence. In return, we value proactive, investor-minded and quality-oriented clients. Paying upfront lets us secure everything now.‍

This is probably the hardest question, and also the most important. Changing lawyers is your right and you may do so whenever you wish. In that case you will need to instruct a new lawyer and give them the details of your previous one. Your new lawyer will then request the formal handover (venia) from us, which we grant unconditionally, and the complete case file is transferred to them through a secure digital channel. During the handover we will bill all professional deliverables and, if the final amount is lower than what you have already paid, we refund the difference. In the unlikely event that you paid less than the total in the first invoice, or that cost overruns have arisen, we will notify your new lawyer and send you a final invoice.

PASSAS is a private law firm and we do not currently offer pro bono services. If you are lawfully resident in Spain, however, you are entitled to legal aid provided you meet the requirements. If you want to handle this yourself, you can approach the Servicios de Orientación Jurídica (Legal Advice Service) for your place of residence, run by your local Colegio de Abogados (Bar Association). The right to legal aid is a fundamental right enshrined in the Spanish Constitution, and the public authorities have a duty to guarantee it universally through a legal aid system that is dignified, properly funded for the professionals who staff it, and of good quality.

Freedom of pricing is one of the core economic values of the European Union, and since 2009 Spanish Bar Associations have been prohibited from setting professional fees. Our commitment is to quality and transparency, but also to fair remuneration for the profession. We are aware that other law firms charge less than we do. We cannot, however, guarantee the quality of the service if our professionals are not fairly paid for the work they do. You do not need to add financial stress to the lawyer who needs 100% of their focus on your case. A good lawyer should charge appropriately, and our way of charging is through our fees. We are entirely transparent because we also believe in your freedom of choice.

In services that depend entirely on us you will see one of the fastest-moving law firms in Europe. Justice in Spain, however, is not as swift as we would like: Spanish courts currently take between two and four years to resolve cases. At PASSAS we do our best to shorten that average through an active follow-up policy, but we do not work miracles. Before deciding to instruct us it is crucial that you accept the cost in time that your case will require, since time is very much a KPI when assessing the return on an investment such as legal services.

We will not lie to you: there is a chance your case becomes complicated despite our best efforts. We cannot absorb what falls outside the scope defined in the Engagement Letter. For example: if you instructed us for first-instance proceedings, you win, the other side appeals and you have to file a response to the appeal, you will have to sign a further Engagement Letter and pay for it. What we can do in those cases is offer you a discount, but they are different services.

As a service provider we can only guarantee our diligence, never the outcome of that diligence. Legal services carry risk and you have to accept your risks, as in any other investment. We apply strict admission criteria and take great care over our methodology in order to maximise the chances of success. Our fees, however, are payment for our work, independently of the outcome.

This can happen: lawyers are not obliged to continue with a case, and we are entitled to withdraw provided we do not leave you without representation. If we do withdraw, we will make sure the transition is as easy and as structured as possible. The procedure is the same as if you decided to change lawyers: handover, billing and settlement.