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SOLICITOR'S CHARGES
Introduction
There are several factors taken into account
in the way solicitors charge for work and this will usually
involve some of the following :-
- the complexity of the matter or the
difficulty or novelty of the questions raised.
- the skill or specialist knowledge
required.
- the time spent on the work.
- the amount of documentation in the
matter.
- the place where the business is transacted.
- the value of any money or property
involved.
- whether any land involved is registered
land.
- the importance of the matter to the
client.
- the approval of the client for the
amount of work to be done and the costs for such work.
The primary factor is usually the time
element. Much confusion has arisen in the past as to how time
is charged due to the hourly rate being expressed as a sum
plus a percentage for what is known as 'general care and conduct'
or 'uplift' This would usually be in the region of 50%. The
reason for the 'uplift' was that it enabled solicitors to
increase the overall charge (by increasing the percentage
of uplift ) at the end of a case where it became particularly
complex or demanding and a good outcome is achieved for the
client or to charge a lower fees (by reducing the percentage
uplift ) for cases that were straight forward cases or where
the benefit to the client was minimal. The 'uplift' element
of the charge was thus often variable even if specified at
the outset thus leaving client's unable to ascertain what
their overall costs would be. Also many clients were never
aware that the hourly rate could be increased by the uplift.
These days The Law Society code of conduct
requires solicitors to provide certain minimum information
about costs in writing whereby they provide clarity and transparency.
The total hourly rate charged inclusive of the 'uplift' element
must be specified. The Solicitors profession as to opposed
to other professions or businesses is more regulated than
any other with regard to costs which can be subject to scrutiny
and clients therefore have a greater protection.
If a client is not satisfied with the
fees there are two methods of redress:
assessment
by the Court or a review by the
Law Society who will issue a
remuneration
certificatewhich will state whether
the fees are reasonable and if found to be unreasonable it
will specify a reduction to be made.
There are 3 categories of work for
charging purposes: -
1. Contentious matters ie those involving
disputes which are subject to court proceedings.
2. Non-Contentious matters ie those
that do not involve court proceedings.
3. Fixed Fee matters.
Our charges will comprise of 3 items:-
1. Our own costs (charged on a time
basis or fixed fee)
2. Disbursements (fees charged by third
parties eg surveyor's costs, court fees, barrister's fees)
3. VAT on our costs. VAT is also chargeable
on some disbursements.
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