Established 1997
A small commercial and property practice that answers the telephone
Privy acts for businesses, landowners and families across Jamaica in commercial agreements, conveyancing, probate and employment matters. Four attorneys, one set of chambers, and a rule that every enquiry receives a substantive reply within two working days.
- Admitted
- Supreme Court of Judicature of Jamaica
- Chambers
- 31 Duke Street, Kingston
- Attorneys
- Four, all called before 2016
- First reply
- Within two working days, every enquiry
- Telephone
- +1 876 922 7180
What we do
Practice areas
Sale and purchase conveyancing
Title investigation, agreement for sale, transfer, stamping and registration, from instruction to the registered title in your name. Fixed fee, exclusive of stamp... From USD 1450.00
Mortgage and security documents
Preparation and registration of a mortgage, debenture or charge, acting for the borrower or the lender. Quoted separately where the security spans more than one t... From USD 780.00
Subdivision and strata
Applications, by-laws and the registration that follows. Hourly, because no two of these take the same time and a fixed fee would be a guess dressed as a price. Quoted at the consultation
Landlord and tenant
Commercial leases, notices to quit and recovery of possession. Hourly, with an estimate of the total before the engagement letter is signed. Quoted at the consultation
Grant of probate, uncontested
Application for probate or letters of administration where the estate is not disputed, including the Estate Duty declaration. Fixed, exclusive of court and regist... From USD 1900.00
Will
A single will, drawn after a meeting in chambers and executed here with two witnesses. Mirror wills for a couple are four hundred and twenty. From USD 280.00
Power of attorney
General or limited, drawn, executed and registered where registration is required. From USD 240.00
Estate administration, disputed
Hourly. Contested estates take as long as the family takes, and where the cost is likely to exceed what is at stake, that is established at the consultation. Quoted at the consultation
Engagement
What it costs, and when you find out
Nothing is billed before it is agreed. Conveyancing, probate and incorporation are fixed fees, published on the fee page. Litigation and advisory work are hourly, at a rate set out in the engagement letter, with an estimate of total hours given before the letter is signed.
A great deal of anxiety about instructing an attorney is really anxiety about the bill. Two things follow from that, and both are policy here rather than courtesy.
The first consultation is thirty minutes and is not charged. It exists so that you can describe the matter and establish whether the matter requires an attorney at all, and whether it requires this one. Some enquiries are properly directed to the Rent Board, to a licensed surveyor, or to a practice that appears in a list we do not.
Every engagement then begins with a written letter setting out the scope, the basis of the fee and, for hourly work, an estimate of the hours. Where an estimate is to be exceeded, notice is given before the work is undertaken rather than on the invoice.
Who you will deal with
The attorneys
Commentary
Notes on the law as it changes
A break in the chain of title
What it means when a registered title has a gap, why it is not always fatal, and what putting it right costs in practice.
The annual return is cheaper than the penalty
What a late filing costs a small company, set against the fee for doing it on time.
Redundancy: the four things that are usually wrong
Selection, consultation, notice and the calculation. In that order, and the calculation is rarely the problem.
Estates with beneficiaries overseas
What changes when one of the beneficiaries has not lived in Jamaica for thirty years, and how long it adds.
Next step
Thirty minutes, not charged
Set out the matter in a paragraph. A reply follows within two working days: whether the practice acts in matters of that kind, which attorney would carry it, and the likely cost.
| Sale or purchase conveyance | From USD 1,450.00 |
|---|---|
| Grant of probate, uncontested | From USD 1,900.00 |
| Company incorporation | USD 620.00 |
| Will, single | USD 280.00 |
| First consultation | No charge |