Client Guide: Legal Fees, Billing & Your Rights
This guide explains how our firm works: who does what, how a matter moves from first call to closing, how each fee model is calculated, how your money is held, and what you are entitled to expect from us. There is nothing to fill in or return. Where this guide and your signed engagement letter differ, the engagement letter governs.
Section 1 — Our Practice Areas & Who Does What
- Civil litigation and dispute resolution — contract disputes, debt recovery, negligence claims, mediation and arbitration.
- Commercial and corporate — formation, shareholder and partnership agreements, commercial contracts, sale and purchase of a business.
- Employment — contracts and handbooks, restructuring and terminations, discrimination and wage claims.
- Property and conveyancing — purchases and sales, leases, easements, title and boundary issues.
- Wills, estates and succession — wills, powers of attorney, probate and estate administration.
- Family — separation agreements, parenting arrangements, property division.
- Responsible attorney — owns your matter, makes the strategic calls and is the person accountable to you for it.
- Supervising partner — reviews strategy at each milestone and is your escalation point if something is not working.
- Associate — handles research, drafting and appearances at the lower hourly rate wherever the work allows it.
- Paralegal / case manager — documents, filings, scheduling and your day-to-day point of contact.
Section 2 — The Stages of a Typical Matter
- Intake. We take the essential facts, the parties involved and any date that could be a deadline.
- Conflict check. We search our records for any conflicting interest. Until this clears we cannot act, and we cannot discuss detail.
- Engagement. We send a written scope and fee. The relationship starts when it is signed and any deposit has been received.
- Investigation. We gather documents and evidence, interview witnesses where relevant and give you a written assessment of your position.
- Negotiation or filing. Most matters are better resolved by correspondence or mediation. Where they are not, we file and litigate.
- Resolution. Settlement, judgment or completion — with your written authority for anything that binds you.
- Closing. A closing letter, a final invoice, the refund of any unearned trust money and a copy of your file.
Section 3 — How Each Fee Model Is Calculated
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| Time recorded in 0.1-hour increments, at the rate of whoever did the work | Disputes and advisory work where the volume cannot be predicted | The total is not fixed — ask for an estimate and for updates when it moves |
| A single agreed amount for a scope written down before work starts | Wills, incorporations, standard contracts, uncontested applications | Anything outside the written scope is a new quote, never an add-on |
| An agreed percentage of what is actually recovered; nothing if there is no recovery | Money claims, where the applicable rules permit it | Costs still come out of the recovery — check whether before or after the percentage |
| A reduced hourly rate plus a smaller success percentage on any recovery | Substantial claims where both sides want to share the risk | You pay something either way — model both outcomes before agreeing |
| A fixed monthly amount covering an agreed allowance of advisory time | Businesses wanting general counsel on call | Hours above the allowance are billed hourly; unused hours do not usually roll over |
Section 4 — Costs & Disbursements Billed Separately
These are amounts we pay out to third parties on your behalf. They are never part of the fee, and they are payable whether or not the matter succeeds.
- Court and tribunal filing fees, service fees and transcript charges.
- Expert reports, valuations and medical or forensic opinions.
- Searches — title, company, bankruptcy and land registry.
- Barrister or counsel fees where separate representation is briefed.
- Interpreters, process servers, couriers, bulk copying and travel.
Any single disbursement above the threshold stated in your engagement letter is approved with you in advance.
Section 5 — Trust Accounts, Invoices & Statements
- Money you pay in advance is held in a regulated client trust account, entirely separate from the firm's own funds. It remains your money until it is earned.
- We transfer from trust to the firm only against an invoice you have received.
- Invoices are issued monthly and itemise the date, the person, the time and the task. Payment is due within 30 days.
- A trust statement showing every movement in and out accompanies each invoice, and again at closing.
- If the balance falls below the agreed minimum we ask you to replenish it before further work is done.
- Any unearned balance is returned to you when the matter closes — you do not have to ask for it.
- Overdue balances may accrue interest at the rate stated in your engagement letter, and unpaid fees may lead to suspension or withdrawal, subject to the applicable rules.
Section 6 — Confidentiality, Privilege & Conflicts of Interest
Communications between you and the firm made for the purpose of giving or receiving legal advice are privileged. We will not disclose them except where you authorise it, where the law or a court compels it, or where the firm must defend itself against a fee or negligence claim.
- Forwarding privileged advice to anyone outside the engagement can waive the privilege permanently. Ask us first.
- We run a conflict check before accepting any matter, and again whenever a new party enters the picture.
- If a conflict emerges mid-matter we tell you promptly and either obtain informed written consent from everyone affected or withdraw.
- We do not act for both sides of a dispute, and we will not use your confidential information for another client's benefit.
- Files are stored on access-controlled systems, and everyone in the firm — including administrative staff — is bound by the same duty of confidence.
Section 7 — Response Times & Urgent Contact
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Routine email or voicemail | A substantive reply within two business days |
Court document or notice you have received | Acknowledged the same business day — forward it immediately, envelope included |
Arrest, injunction, seizure or other emergency | Use the after-hours number in your engagement letter — do not wait for office hours |
Status update with no new development | A scheduled update at least every 30 days, even when nothing has moved |
Section 8 — Your Rights as a Client
- To be informed. You are entitled to know the status of your matter and to have your questions answered in language you understand.
- To a written fee agreement. You are entitled to know before work starts how you will be charged and roughly what it will come to.
- To an itemised bill. You may ask for detail behind any entry and may dispute a charge in writing within 30 days of the invoice.
- To make the decisions that are yours. Whether to settle, to accept an offer or to end a case is your call, not ours.
- To confidentiality. Everything you tell us in confidence stays confidential, subject only to the narrow exceptions in Section 6.
- To terminate. You may end the engagement at any time in writing, remaining liable only for work done and costs advanced to that date.
- To your file. At closing — or on request at any time — you are entitled to your documents and a copy of the file.
- To a second opinion. Seeking independent advice on our advice is always reasonable, and we will never treat it as a lack of trust.
Section 9 — Closing & File Retention
- At closing you receive a closing letter setting out what was achieved, any deadline that still runs, and anything you must do next.
- Original documents — deeds, wills, contracts, identity papers — are returned to you unless you ask us to hold them in safe custody.
- We retain the firm's copy of a closed file for the period required by the rules of our jurisdiction, typically between seven and ten years.
- Wills, trust deeds and estate papers are held indefinitely where we act as custodian.
- At the end of the retention period files are securely destroyed. We write to your last known address before anything is destroyed.
Section 10 — If Something Goes Wrong
- Raise it with your responsible attorney first. Most concerns are a misunderstanding that one conversation resolves.
- If that does not settle it, ask in writing for the supervising partner to review the matter. You will receive an acknowledgment within five business days.
- The firm responds in writing within 20 business days, setting out its findings and what it proposes to do.
- Fee disputes may be referred to the fee-review or mediation scheme operated by our regulator, where one is available.
- You may complain to the bar association or legal regulator of our jurisdiction at any stage. Nothing here limits that right or the time in which to exercise it.
This guide is general information about how our firm operates. It is not legal advice about any particular situation and does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship.