How We Charge

UNDERSTANDING YOUR LEGAL COSTS

WHEN ENGAGING MILLER SOCKHILL LAWYERS

The thought of engaging a lawyer to act on your behalf in any type of legal matter can be quite daunting and overwhelming especially when you think about how much it will cost you.  While you may be apprehensive and a little embarrassed to talk about costs, it is very important that the issue of costs is discussed with your lawyer at the first meeting.  

Discussing how we charge will ensure you have a clear understanding of the legal fees you are going to incur.  As legal practitioners, we have an obligation to ensure that we disclose to clients the basis on which legal costs will be calculated.  At Miller Sockhill Lawyers we believe in offering value for money professional services and advice.  The nature of your legal requirements and the type of work required to be undertaken will ultimately determine how much you are charged.  Prior to the commencement of your matter, we will issue you a ‘costs agreement’ which will outline how we charge and the scope of the work that we have been engaged to do. 

You can expect that we will charge you for all the work we do on your matter.  This includes telephone calls, emails, reading documents, drafting material, attendance at Court or any conferences.  Our professional fees are charged at an hourly rate in six-minute increments.  

If the work to be carried out is estimated to cost less than $1,500 (excluding GST), a costs agreement will not be provided.  In this instance, an Engagement Letter disclosing an estimate of our costs will be provided.  

What is included in your Costs Agreement?

Our costs agreement will include the following information: 

  • How costs are calculated (how we charge); 
  • An estimate of the total cost, noting that this estimate must be realistic; 
  • The scope of work we have been engaged to perform and what is not included; 
  • Your right to:- negotiate the costs, receive a bill, request an itemized bill, be notified of any significant changes that could affect the cost, apply for a costs assessment if you dispute your bill and the time limits that apply, know how often you will be billed, receive updates on your matter, know the interest rate charged on overdue amounts.

If you have a question regarding your invoice, you should in the first instance speak to us about your costs.  It is important to keep these things in mind when you engage a lawyer and if you are wanting to reduce your costs, consider ways that are more cost effective in communicating with them. 

Our team here at Miller Sockhill Lawyers ensure you are kept informed of not only the progress of your matter, but the fees associated with it.  We pride ourselves on being transparent and flexible with our legal costs and will work with you to ensure that you get the best representation at very reasonable costs.