You are paying a lawyer for a professional service that includes their expertise, the support services required by a law office, adhering to professional standards required of all lawyers and professional liability insurance.
While an estimate of your fee may be given, it is difficult for a lawyer to guarantee a fee due to the fact that many aspects of law are beyond his or her control. For instance, what is anticipated as being a single court application may end up involving multiple applications, initiated by an opposing party. On other occasions, what may be contemplated as an extremely difficult matter, may be resolved easily and, accordingly, the account may be less than anticipated.
At the first interview, your lawyer may request a retainer. The retainer is held in trust and is applied against services performed for you by NSWB. If all of the retainer is not needed to pay your account, then the balance is returned.
Because of the difficulties in providing a fee estimate, you will often be sent a progress billing on a monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual basis. Accounts are sent to you to keep you informed as to the amount of your legal fees. Depending on the activity of a file, a lawyer may automatically provide a monthly billing to you. All accounts are charged interest at 18% per annum, if not paid within 30 days.
Your final account is based upon many factors. The most relevant factor in most, but not all, accounts is the time spent on a matter. Legal services performed for a client by the law firm are charged at standard hourly rates, given to you at the first interview with your solicitor. Hourly rates are charged for both lawyers and legal assistants working on the file and are adjusted annually. There are many services such as gathering information and preparing documents that our legal assistants are well qualified to perform. NSWB employs legal assistants, whenever possible, to minimize your costs.
All expenses incurred are billed to the client as disbursements and are charged in addition to the fee. Furthermore, all fees and disbursements are subject to GST and PST.
