SUFFOLK law firm Gotelee & Goldsmith last night unveiled a fresh identity ? and a radical new fee structure.

The Ipswich-based firm, which also has an office in Hadleigh, has shortened its title to Golelee Solicitors as part of a relaunch designed to help it meet increased competition for legal services.

A new “Client Promise” covers all aspects of service, including the speed of response to inquries, regular updates as work progresses and the use of plain English in all communications.

But it also includes an innovative approach to fees, with clients for most types of work now being given a fixed-price at the outset rather than a traditional estimate, based on an hourly rate. The new approach was announced last night during a launch event at the firm’s office in Elm Street, Ipswich, attended by more than 100 members of the local business community and featuring an audio visual presentation by lighting and sound specialist Laser Lighting Ltd, which provided a historical snapshot of the firm’s 130-year history.

Senior partner Brian Morron said: “To enable us to continue to grow and meet the challenges of the 21st century, we need to build on our well established reputation as a friendly, full service law firm that has several partners who are identified as ‘Leading Individuals’ in the Legal 500.

“We know that people see us as approachable and recognise our expertise, but that isn’t always enough. We have given this a lot of thought and developed our ideas with the enthusiastic cooperation of our staff. The ‘Client Promise’ clearly defines what can be expected from us from now on. We want to offer this enhanced commitment to our existing clients and also to encourage new clients to give us a try. We strongly believe that whether we’re dealing with an individual or a business, our clients need to know the level of service they’re going to receive and how much they’re going to have to pay for it”.

Managing partner Martin Whitworth added: “Both the environment in which we work and the needs of our clients are constantly changing. For instance, we understand that pricing certainty is very important. So, we have taken the initiative and stated that we will give a fixed price in advance, wherever it is possible to do so, and, once given, we will keep to this price.”