How We Bill

Charging Policy - please read carefully

The basis on which our fees will be charged will be set out in our Letter of Engagement to you with out terms of business – client care and any service information should also have been provided to you.

The guidelines for lawyers to charge clients is set out under the New Zealand Law Society's Rules of Professional Conduct for Barristers and recently the new Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 – rules of conduct and client care. These read, in part, as follows:

Charges by a lawyer for professional work must be fair and reasonable for the services provided having regard to the interests of both client and lawyer and also to the factors set out below:

(a)   The time and labour expended.
(b)   The skill, specialised knowledge and responsibility required.
(c)   The importance of the matter to the client and the results achieved.
(d)   The urgency and the circumstances in which the business is transacted.
(e)   The value or amount of any property and money and degree of risk.
(f)   The complexity of the matter and the difficulty or novelty of the questions involved.
(g)   The experience, reputation and ability.
(h)   The possibility that the acceptance of the particular work will preclude engagement of the lawyer by other clients.
(i)   Whether the fee is fixed or additional (whether in litigation or otherwise).
(j)   Any quote or estimate of fees given.
(k)   Any fee agreement (including a conditional fee agreement) entered into between lawyer and client.
(l)   The reasonable costs of running the lawyers' practice.
(m)   The fee customarily charged in the market and locality for similar legal services.

In some cases legal work can be accurately and fairly charged mainly by the amount of time spent by the lawyer or the lawyers' staff multiplied by that particular person’s appropriate hourly charge out rate.

Lawyers are legally required to consider those other factors listed above. An assessment of those other factors may result in a charge greater or lesser than simply a figure achieved by multiplying the hourly rate by the amount of time spent on the matter.

At the end of the day, the overriding concern of both the lawyer and client is to ensure that the client is charged a fair and reasonable fee that is value for money for the practical advice - effective solutions we have provided.

Estimates

This is best achieved by good communication, both from the client in explaining what outcomes they want to achieve and from the lawyer by explaining what is likely to be involved to achieve those objectives.

For some aspects of legal work it is relatively straightforward to estimate the likely cost. Other areas of work can be very difficult to assess the costs at the outset, particularly where there are a lot of variables or unforeseeable problems. Nonetheless we recognise that we have a responsibility to make every reasonable effort at the outset of an engagement to make our clients aware of the likely costs involved.

Any estimate is given on the basis of the information available to us at that date and is given in good faith based on our previous experience in such matters. This will be our 'best estimate', at this stage, as to what the fee is likely to be.

If however the work does not proceed as you or we had expected due to unexpected complications or if the work proves more complicated than originally anticipated, then we will advise you of the new estimate to complete the work and will explain the reasons why.

Because of the uncertain nature of legal work an estimate is not to be considered as a quote.

Charge out rates

Although time and hourly charge out rates are only two of the factors the New Zealand Law Society’s Rules require us to take into account when fixing a fee, it may be helpful for you to know what our charge out rates cover.

These rates cover not only the time spent by the particular professional who is working with you, but also the support staff, office systems and infrastructure which are not charged separately in the way that many other service providers do.

The charge out rates vary for different people so it is important that you discuss this with the lawyer you are dealing with.

These hourly charge out rates reflect varying seniority, training, experience and experience within our firm.

How to keep costs down

There are many things you can do to help keep your costs down, these include:

• Contact us before signing anything (it will usually save you time and money in the long run).
• Make sure you give us all relevant information, papers and instructions.
• On litigation files provide a detailed time line (dates of when things happen) and copies of any documents.
• If you can avoid it, do not leave things to the last minute (urgency will usually increase your costs).
• Respond promptly to requests for further information or to do something to help us (if we have to chase you up, it takes extra time, which you are paying for).
• Indicate a willingness to do things we would otherwise have to undertake personally at your cost; e.g. instructing Valuers, liaising with Banks. Please check with us first, though, so we can co-ordinate our respective efforts to produce the best result.

We will also try to keep your costs down by delegating some aspects to appropriate staff with lower charge out rates, unless you particularly request that only one person attend to all matters.

Disbursement costs

A set file administration charge will be made to cover the opening, subsequent administration, closure and storage of your file. This fee also covers facsimile charges, postage and similar expenses.  Some expenses may be charged separately such as photocopying.

We will also pass on to you any disbursements incurred by us on your behalf including, but not limited to, any Court filing fees, registration fees, search fees, Council LIM charges, travel and experts’ fees, where applicable.

Property transactions will also incur a disbursement charge in relation to our communication reporting software.

Payment Terms

A copy of our Credit Policy will be made available to you. Generally property and similar transactional matters will be billed at the time of settlement or on completion of the work and fees paid by deduction. For other matters interim fees may be rendered on a regular basis and a final account forwarded promptly on completion of the instructions. This will help you by spreading your fee payments over time. It will also enable you to keep track of how much the work is costing.

For some Court work payment in advance is required. We do this because we often carry the cost of the work for several weeks and even months and years. Details will be provided to you in the form of a written statement on completion of the work.

At the outset of a transaction we may ask you for payment to cover disbursement items which we have to immediately pay out on your behalf, such as Court filing fees and LIM costs.

Clients, from time to time, find themselves in a position where it will not be easy or in some cases even possible to comply with our normal payment requirements. If you think that there may be a difficulty in paying on time please discuss this with us at the outset not when the account has been rendered.

Credit Enquiries

We reserve the right, as set out in our Terms of Business, to make reasonable and confidential credit enquiries from an appropriate information provider.

We believe that good communication and understanding of each others requirements are the keys to a successful professional relationship. We welcome feedback or questions at any time.