Legal fees should be clear before the work starts.
For clearly defined mandates, we agree scope and fees upfront. That applies across M&A, Corporate, Tax and Accounting — because clients should know what they are buying before the invoice arrives.
Fixed fees are not a marketing gimmick.
Traditional hourly billing tells you what the work cost after it has already been done. Where a mandate can be properly scoped, we prefer to agree the commercial terms before we start. That means clarity on what is included, what assumptions the fee is based on, what the mandate will cost and what would fall outside the agreed scope. The result is simple: less uncertainty around fees and more focus on the work itself.
No running clock where one is not needed.
Not every legal matter should be billed the same way. For a clearly defined project, a fixed fee can create better incentives on both sides. The client does not need to think about the cost of every call or email. We do not need to justify value by the number of hours recorded. What matters is whether the agreed work gets done properly.
Where fixed fees work particularly well.
M&A & Transactions
Many transaction workstreams can be scoped and priced upfront once the deal structure and key assumptions are understood.
Legal Due Diligence · SPA · Signing & Closing · Corporate Implementation · Searcher-led Acquisitions
Corporate
Defined corporate projects are often well suited to fixed-fee pricing.
Shareholders' Agreements · Share Transfers · Incorporations · Management Incentive Plans · Reorganisations
Tax
Tax projects can also often be scoped upfront where the transaction or issue is sufficiently defined.
Tax Due Diligence · Acquisition Structuring · SPA Tax · Reorganisations
Accounting & Reporting
Recurring Accounting & Reporting is typically priced through a predictable monthly model based on actual scope, volume and complexity.
Financial Accounting · Monthly Close · Management Reporting · Annual Accounts · Tax Compliance
What determines a fixed legal fee?
We do not publish a price simply because a matter has a particular label. A share purchase agreement for one transaction may be fundamentally different from another. We understand the mandate first. Then we define scope and fee.
Relevant factors
The fee reflects the actual mandate, not the label.
Scope of work · Number of entities · Transaction structure · Diligence scope · Number and complexity of documents · Number of parties involved · Timetable · Negotiation dynamics · Interfaces with Tax or Accounting
When a fixed fee is the wrong model.
Not every matter can be responsibly priced upfront. Where the scope is genuinely open-ended, the workload is highly unpredictable or the matter may evolve significantly, another pricing model may make more sense. Depending on the mandate, we may use transparent hourly rates, fee caps, prepaid hour packages or monthly retainers. The principle remains the same: the pricing model should fit the mandate — not the other way around.
Monthly retainers for ongoing work.
Legal, Tax and Accounting issues rarely arrive according to a project plan. For recurring work, we can agree a defined ongoing scope and a predictable monthly fee.
Particularly useful for
General Counsel · Ongoing Corporate advice · Ongoing Tax advice · Accounting & Reporting
Why CLIQ?
Commercial clarity
We discuss scope and pricing before the mandate starts.
Partner-led
Clients work directly with the people responsible for the advice.
Legal, Tax & Accounting
Where disciplines overlap, the relevant advisers already work as one team.
Built around transactions
Our model is designed for companies, founders, investors and searchers who value speed, clarity and commercial judgement.
Frequently asked questions.
Does CLIQ offer fixed-fee legal advice?
Yes. Where a mandate can be defined with sufficient clarity, fixed fees are our preferred model.
Can an M&A transaction be handled on a fixed fee?
Often, yes. Depending on the transaction, we may price the entire legal workstream or individual parts of it separately, such as Legal Due Diligence, the SPA or Signing and Closing support.
Is CLIQ exclusively a fixed-fee law firm?
No. Fixed fees work well for many mandates, but not all of them. Where scope is genuinely unpredictable, we may use hourly rates, fee caps, prepaid packages or retainers instead.
Do you offer fixed fees for ongoing legal advice?
For recurring work, we typically use a monthly retainer rather than a separate fixed fee for every individual task.
Is Accounting also priced on a fixed-fee basis?
Recurring Accounting & Reporting is generally priced as a predictable monthly fee based on scope, transaction volume, number of entities and reporting requirements.
Is a fixed fee always cheaper than hourly billing?
Not necessarily. Its main advantages are predictability, clarity and an agreed scope — not simply a lower headline price.
Want clarity on fees before the work starts?
Tell us what you are working on. We will tell you how we would scope the mandate and price it.