How We Charge in Dispute Resolution & Mediation Matters:

One of the biggest fears people have when it comes to seeing a lawyer is cost. As a consequence, many people choose to avail themselves of professional legal assistance, which often has the result of complicating a matter further and therein increasing the costs of any resolution.

As a direct answer to the general concern regarding solicitors’ costs, we do our best to ensure that our clients are well aware, from the outset, of what fees they can expect to pay. We also focus on providing cost effective Dispute Resolution and Mediation advice and solutions by offering three types of costing:

Fixed fee – We try to offer as much of our services at a fixed fee. At your initial conference, a Lawyer from our Dispute Resolution and Mediation team will discuss with you your matter in some detail, take instructions from you and consider any relevant documentation. After obtaining an understanding of your circumstances, the services you require and the amount of work that is likely to be involved, your Lawyer will provide you with a fixed fee that we intend to charge for our services. The advantage of fixed fees is the commercial certainty that it provides our clients, which aids them in their budgeting. Transparency is just as important to us as it is to our clients.

Hourly rate – We charge on an hourly basis in matters where it is difficult to predict the amount of time the work will take. Where we are charging on an hourly rate basis, we have a policy of having each task performed by the least expensive person with the requisite experience and where appropriate - this ensures cost effectiveness for our clients. We recognise that the most prevalent problem with charging at hourly rates is a lack of transparency. That is why we ensure that our clients are provided with an estimate of costs, up-front, in writing, prior to commencing the work. We also give our clients the opportunity to question and negotiate our costs.

Staged billing – Staged billing is a milestone-based costing regime that sets a certain fee payable for each stage of the process. Similar to fixed fees, staged billing is a transparent costing system where you will know exactly what you are paying and how much you will be paying, at each stage of your matter. We do our best to dissect the matter into stages.  In our discretion, we offer staged billing in some complicated and protracted matters. 

By having three different types of Fee Structures, our clients rest assured knowing that they will not be hit with an unexpected invoice at the conclusion of their matter. It is important to us that our clients understand how we charge.

Should you wish to discuss the above fee structures and the potential utilisation of same to your matter, please contact our Head Office on (02) 9233 4048.

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.