The questions asked most often, answered plainly.

Where an adequate statutory remedy exists and has not been exhausted. We will say so at the first meeting rather than file and be dismissed on maintainability.

An urgent application filed before noon is commonly listed the next working day where liberty, demolition or an imminent administrative act is involved. Ordinary petitions take two to four weeks to first hearing.

Yes, within a standing annual commitment. Requests are reviewed by the partnership monthly, and we say plainly when an issue is better carried by a petitioner with direct standing.

Where the contract carries a workable arbitration clause, yes — and it is usually faster. Where it does not, an early without-prejudice meeting settles a good number of recovery matters before a plaint is filed.

The contract, all correspondence in date order, the ledger or statement of account, and any notices exchanged. A one-page chronology from you shortens the first fortnight materially.

Not as a contingency, which the Bar Council rules restrict. Recovery matters may be structured as a reduced hourly rate with a success component on amounts actually realised.

Yes. A tribunal will not entertain an appeal until the departmental remedy has been exhausted or ninety days have passed without a decision. Filing early and on the record is what starts that clock.

A service appeal is ordinarily decided in twelve to twenty months. Interim relief against an immediate transfer or recovery can be sought in the first hearings.

Yes, and it is the better time. What the inquiry record contains decides most appeals; a reply drafted after the penalty is imposed has far less to work with.

Often, on interim relief, provided the appeal is filed within the period the rules allow and royalty is deposited as it falls due. Delay is what usually defeats these matters.

That depends on the concession and the surface-rights instrument. We read both before advising, because a poorly drafted access agreement transfers more risk to the operator than the lease does.

Not for passing off, which protects reputation rather than the register — but registration shortens the case considerably and is worth obtaining before a dispute rather than during one.

An injunction application is ordinarily filed within 48 hours of instruction where the evidence of use and confusion is already in hand.

A contested suit at first instance commonly runs eighteen to thirty months, and an appeal adds a year. Interim relief, where it is available, is decided in the first weeks.

The title deeds or contract, all correspondence and notices in date order, and any order already passed against you. A chronology in your own words is worth more than it sounds.

Rarely on its own. Execution — attachment, sale or garnishee — is a proceeding in its own right, and we plan for it before the suit is filed rather than after the decree.

Yes. A duty advocate is available at all hours and can attend the police station and file for bail the same working day.

Bail work is fixed-fee. Trials are quoted in stages — framing, prosecution evidence, defence evidence, arguments — so the cost of each phase is known before it begins.

Where it discloses no offence, is barred by law, or is plainly mala fide, yes — by petition under Article 199. Where it does disclose an offence, the answer lies at trial, and we will say which of the two you are facing.

A straightforward khula is ordinarily decided in four to seven months. Contested matters involving custody or property commonly run twelve to eighteen months, and an appeal adds six.

No. Attendance is required for framing of issues, evidence and any mediation. Clients resident abroad may act through a registered power of attorney.

Yes. Interim custody and visitation are decided on an application at an early hearing, and interim maintenance is normally fixed within the first two hearings.

Very. Appeals at scrutiny run in days, not weeks, and an election petition must be filed within the period the Elections Act allows. We take these on only when instructed with time to prepare them properly.

A recount before consolidation is sought from the Returning Officer. After consolidation it can only be obtained through an election petition before the tribunal.

A contemporaneous file: the standing order relied on, the show-cause notice, the reply, the inquiry record and the final order. Assembled after the claim is filed, it persuades nobody.

We can advise or sit on the committee, or represent the employer in subsequent litigation — but not both, and the choice is made before the inquiry begins.

Only on non-adversarial formation work, with written informed consent. On a shareholder dispute we may act for one side alone.

Especially for a small company. Deadlock between two equal holders with no agreed mechanism is the single most expensive thing we are asked to unwind.

Yes, and that is most of this work. A marked-up review with a one-page note on the three clauses worth fighting for is the usual deliverable.

Yes. A monthly retainer covers a defined volume of contract review and board support, with transactional work quoted separately.

Yes, where the question is one we can answer squarely. Opinions are addressed, and their assumptions and limits are stated on their face.

A discrete question, five to eight working days. Diligence of a trading company, three to four weeks, depending on how quickly records are produced.

Completely, and on time. A thin first reply narrows what can be argued on appeal, because the appellate forum reads the record the regulator made — not the case you wish had been put.

Yes. We prepare an inspection protocol in advance and attend on the day; it is far harder to correct what was handed over than to supervise what is.

Yes, and particularly then. Knowing the realistic recovery and the cost of reaching it is what keeps a fighting decision a commercial one.

A properly drawn settlement does, and where proceedings exist it can be recorded as a consent decree — enforceable in execution rather than by a fresh suit.

Before signature. Once a transaction has closed, the position is whatever the documents made it, and the work becomes defence rather than planning.

Yes — reasoned opinions on whether a treatment is sustainable, written to be read alongside the financial statements and the disclosures they carry.

Usually yes, with an extension sought on the record. What matters is that the reply is complete on first filing — a thin reply narrows what can be argued on appeal.

Yes. A compliance retainer covers returns, statements and routine notices on fixed dates, with contested proceedings quoted separately.

Often. A stay application is moved with the appeal, and where accounts have already been attached a writ petition is the faster route to release.

Frequently. Where the default arises from a bona fide interpretation and the tax is paid, penalty and default surcharge are commonly set aside or reduced on appeal.