Lawyers are in the business of selling the time of an expert adviser.  Our most expensive Lawyers charge for their time at a rate of $300 per hour plus GST. Our Paralegals charge between $90.00 and $150.00 per hour depending upon the kind of work that they are undertaking.

 

It may be possible to reduce legal costs by ensuring that your lawyer does not need to spend time doing things that you could do for yourself.  We encourage you to involve yourself in the process as much as you would like to.  We treat our engagement by you as a partnership with you.

 

No one knows your situation as well as you do. We believe that it is a lawyers role to properly diagnose the problem and to expose every available option. It is your responsibility to make decisions based upon our analysis of the available options. We strongly recommend that you resist the temptation to let a lawyer decide the best option for you.

 

We will provide a quote when it is possible to calculate with certainty what will be involved in completing the job for you. The quote will relate to the specific work anticipated at the time that the quote is given. Further work may be necessitated during the course of the transaction and the value of that further work cannot be included in the original quote. Make sure that you understand what kind of work may fall outside the ambit of the quote, and let us know if you have questions.

 

You can expect to receive a quote if requested for the following kinds of work: Conveyancing, Preparation of a Will or Enduring Power of Attorney, Advice in relation to the conditions of a lease, Advice in relation to the conditions of a franchise Agreement, Advice in relation to a guarantee and indemnity.

 

It is not possible to provide a quote in relation to work which involves many unknowns. In these situations we will provide an estimate of the range of fees that are likely to be incurred as soon as it becomes possible to give such an estimate. Such an estimate usually cannot be expected before our first meeting with you. It will generally be possible to obtain an estimate of the range of fees involved in the work soon after the first conference.  If this is not given automatically then please do not hesitate to request it.

 

An upfront quote cannot be given in relation to :

The conduct of legal proceedings  (litigation), The negotiation of the terms of an agreement, The preparation of a partnership agreement.  Our fees for this kind of work are calculated by considering the amount of time involved.

 

When it is not possible to give an estimate in relation to the whole job it is sometimes possible to give an estimate in relation to some parts of the job and if requested we will always attempt to do this.