Legal Fees Cost Assessment:

Legal practitioner must conduct their business in accordance with the rules and standards of their legal fraternity. In New South Wales, that legal fraternity is the state’s Law Society. Barristers also comply with comparative standards set by the Bar Association. One of the most common complaints against legal practitioners is the manner in which they have changed clients for services rendered. A complaint may be that:

(1)   A solicitor has overcharged due to spending too much time on a particular task;

(2)   A solicitor has charged for work that he should not have done;

(3)   A solicitor has charged for work he was asked not to do;

(4)   A solicitor has charged for activity which, albeit performed legitimately and for proper purpose, is not something that should be incurred by the client; and

(5)   For any other matter resulting in the client having to pay for a service or a disbursement that he was not expecting or did not ask for, or for which the solicitor is not entitled to claim in the invoice against the client.

Each Costs Agreement, also known as a Retainer, must make various disclosure statements to the Client. These are authorised under clauses 109A and 111A of the Legal Profession Regulations 2005 and contained in the Schedule to those Regulations as “forms”. [1] The two that are mandatory are Form 2 and Form 3. If the matters that are contained in these disclosures are not contained in the Cost Agreement, then there may be an arguable case of negligence plead against a legal practitioner, and the retainer itself may be impeached by the innocent party. These forms are as follows:

Form 2 – Legal costs—your right to know

You have the right to:

•  Negotiate a costs agreement with us;

•  Receive a bill of costs from us;

•  Request an itemised bill of costs after you receive a lump sum bill from us;

•  Request written reports about the progress of your matter and the costs incurred in your matter;

•  Apply for costs to be assessed within 12 months if you are unhappy with our costs;

•  Apply for the costs agreement to be set aside;

•  Accept or reject any offer we make for an interstate costs law to apply to your matter; and

•  Notify us that you require an interstate costs law to apply to your matter.

For more information about your rights, please read the fact sheet titled Legal Costs—your right to know. You can ask us for a copy, or obtain it from your local law society or law institute (or download it from their website).

Form 3 – Form of notification of client’s rights

Your rights in relation to legal costs

The following avenues are available to you if you are not happy with this bill:

•  Requesting an itemised bill;

•  Discussing your concerns with us;

•  Having our costs assessed; and

•  Applying to set aside our costs agreement.

There may be other avenues available in your State or Territory (such as mediation).

For more information about your rights, please read the fact sheet titled Your right to challenge legal costs. You can ask us for a copy, or obtain it from your local law society or law institute (or download it from their website).

These forms outlines the rights and responsibilities between the legal practitioner and the client in respect of billing, invoicing and the liabilities for the provision of disclosure and the payment of fees. Where there is a dispute between a legal practitioner and a client in respect of these matters, cost assessment procedures exist for the review of invoices and the work which was done by a solicitor.

The procedure is usually before a Cost Assessor at the Supreme Court who peruses the evidence and makes a determination as to the proper amount that the client should be liable to pay the legal practitioner for work completed. That cost assessment procedure results in a certificate which can then be used as the basis to launch proceedings for debt recovery. For more information, see our section titled “debt recovery”.

Solicitors and lawyers must adhere to the highest standards of professional conduct. Deviation from these standards can either result in a finding of unprofessional conduct or professional misconduct. In serious cases, the legal practitioner may be struck off the roll and have his practicing certificate revoked.

Allegations of negligence or misconduct against a legal practitioner are very serious matters indeed and should not be taken lightly. If a person feels that they have been overcharged by their solicitor or lawyer, there are avenues for assessment available at law. It would not be remiss if legal advice were sought in preparing the application to the Cost Assessor. The clearer the application, the easier it will be for the Costs Assessor to make an appropriate determination.

If you legal advice for legal fees cost assessment you may wish to contact our firm by telephone on (02) 9233 4048 or email us at info@navado.com.au and make an appointment to see one of our solicitors.

[1] Clauses 109A, 111A and Schedule 5 of the Legal Profession Regulations 2005 (NSW).

This webpage (and any material or wording appearing on this webpage) is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute any Legal Advice. It does not take into account your objectives, your instructions or all of the relevant facts and/or circumstances. Navado accepts no responsibility to any person who relies on the information provided on this website. We further refer you to our Disclaimer.