How to reduce your legal bill

If you are planning to hire a lawyer who will be billing you for the time he/she spends on your matter than read on.

Get documents and information ready

Ask for a questionnaire and bring it completed to the interview.

Bring copies of all relevant documents to your first interview including financial statements, court documents, videos, photos, valuation reports etc.

If you need evidence from a third party it may be cheaper to arrange it yourself, e.g. valuation of a property or a company.

Lawyers work with chronologies - this is a list of events in chronological order supported by evidence. E.g. “I married John Smith on 12 August 2001 and this is a copy of my marriage certificate”. Have your chronology ready before you see your lawyer.

Instead of handing over a bundle of documents to your lawyer you can save on costs by categorising and indexing the documents yourself.

Have clear objectives

Write down the best outcome that you are hoping to achieve.

Then write down the second and third best outcomes that you will be prepared to accept.

Expect a difference in legal costs for achieving each of your three different objectives.

Always have a written agenda

Write down the issues that you want to discuss with your lawyer.

Always identify the issues in dispute and those agreed with the other party.

Email or post the agenda to your lawyer so that s/he can get prepared before the meeting so you can get the maximum benefit of your meeting.

Choose the most cost effective method to achieve your objectives

Research the different options for resolving your problem – negotiation, mediation, collaboration, arbitration, court action etc.

Court action is usually not the only option but it is likely to be the most expensive one.

Try resolving your problem through one of the more cost effective methods before going to court.

Ask for an estimate of costs

Lawyers in Western Australia are obliged to give clients an estimate of costs in writing in the form of a retainer agreement if the expected costs are likely to be more than $1,500.

Ensure that you have been given an estimate of costs and a list of factors that may influence the estimate of costs.

Scope of work

Define the scope of work to be performed by your lawyer - any scope creep will increase your legal costs.

Have a budget

Tell your lawyer what your budget is, if you have one, and seek assurances that your matter can be completed within your budget.

Communicating with your lawyer

Request from your lawyer a progress report.

Discuss with your lawyer the time interval between each report and avoid contacting him/her just to follow up unless you have to.

Your lawyer should be forwarding to you all correspondence from the other party in relation to the matter as soon as it arrives.

Calls to mobile phones are usually charged at a premium – give your lawyer a landline number, if you have one, as your primary contact number.

Recovery of legal costs

Check with your lawyer if it is likely for you to recover from the other party any of the legal costs in your matter.

Not all costs are recoverable and even if you are awarded costs by the court you will never be able to recover the total amount you have paid to your lawyer.

Project Management

You might be able to cover all of the previous points easily if your lawyer has project management skills and knowledge.

Ask your lawyer for a written step by step outline for the management of your matter.

Quality systems

Look for a law firm which has been accredited by the Law Society in your State as a quality service provider.

Such firms have a quality management system in place which helps increase efficiency, predictability and quality.

The service provided by such a firm is expected to be of a calibre that will save you on costs in the long run.

Be succinct

Stick to the relevant facts rather than the emotional issues in the matter, avoid irrelevant issues, you will be paying for those too.

Involving family and friends

If you are bringing family members and friends for support to your lawyer’s office instruct them to stay quiet.

They may be more useful to you if they take notes of what is being said than becoming involved in the discussions.

Pay bills on time

Lawyers are entitled to charge you interest on any outstanding bills.

Make sure that you can secure the funds before you engage your lawyer and subsequently pay your bills on time.

Choose your lawyer carefully

Changing lawyers after you have signed the retainer is most likely going to increase your legal costs.

The new lawyer will not be able to take off from where your former lawyer stopped work on your matter.

The new lawyer will charge you a premium for familiarising him/herself with your matter.

Settle early

Consider all possible options to settle the matter early. Ask your lawyer to help you reach a sound commercial decision.

Early settlement is likely to reduce your legal bill significantly.

Review of documents by a lawyer before your sign

Review by lawyer of contractual documents ( such as a contract for building a house, sale of real estate, retirement village agreements etc) that you are considering signing is most likely to be cheaper than your lawyer’s fees for trying to resolve issues arising after you have signed those documents.

Documents that you should prepare now

There are certain documents that you should prepare now while you can such as your estate plan.

Failure to do so in time is likely to cost your loved ones a lot more when they need to deal with your estate.

Do not delay seeking legal advice

Delay may not only be costly but may also bar you from starting legal action. There are certain time limits that apply.

Unbundle your legal services

If you are willing and able to do some of the work in your matter then you may ask your lawyer to perform not all but only some specific tasks on your behalf.

This approach may reduce your bill in the short term but may be more costly later if you make a mistake.

Contact support staff for non-legal questions

Most questions that do not involve legal advice may be answered by your lawyer's personal assistant.

Talking to support personal is always cheaper than talking to your lawyer.

No two cases are the same

Do not rely on the advice of your friends or family members which is based on their personal experiences.

It may be more expensive to fix problems created by such an advice than to pay for a lawyer’s advice in the first place.

Fixed fees legal service

If you are looking for predictability of legal costs than you should consider hiring a lawyer who offers fixed fee legal services.

Collaborate with your lawyer for a better experience and reduced

legal fees!

Quality Management for Legal Practices Blog