Solicitor Costs

jtk174

Following on from my old thread on Divorce, I now have a solicitors "draft" bill which I am not happy about. ( No surprise there! )

Having never received a client care letter detailing potential costs etc and taking into account the poor service ( one offer never given to me and then hit with a calderbank offer when I didn't respond ).
Can anyone suggest current solicitor and barrister hourly rates for Divorce and what is "care and conduct"? They have added a third to their hourly rate for this alone!
The bill includes, 5 joint consultations at Court and 5 hours looking over the "discovery". Even then I had to identify issues in discovery that they had missed.

Also any advice about raising a complaint would be great.

BTW in the end and after almost 2 years, I went to another solicitor and had the Divorce matter resolved quickly for a fixed fee. Of course the 2 years of hindsight helped

NAR

Ask for an interview with the senior partner in the firm, telling them you wish to discuss the poor service you received and that you are unhappy with the bill you have been presented with. You need to prepare by detailing which items that you are being charged for that you dispute and why. Any evidence you have to support your dispute will obviously be useful.
Good luck, not easy to resolve.

getzls

NAR wrote: »

Ask for an interview with the senior partner in the firm,

Make sure they don't charge you for it!:whistle:

NAR

getzls wrote: »

NAR wrote: »

Ask for an interview with the senior partner in the firm,

Make sure they don't charge you for it!:whistle:

It is part of the complaint's process and is free.

jtk174

NAR wrote: »

Good luck, not easy to resolve.

Thanks. I know, but I will be sticking with this one. I do have a few things to hit them with, but I have a feeling they may have inflated the bill in order to reduce it later. Why send a "draft" bill after all.

I haven't found much on the Internet regarding "Care and Conduct" and don't understand how they can add 33.3% on to their hourly rate and get away with it.

I had a look at the Law Society Guidelines to Solicitors, but it would appear thats all they are, guidelines!

Rach39

You can also apply to the Law Society for the bill to go to 'taxation' which means an independent person assesses it's reasonableness and examines the time spent, work carried out in relation to charges. Don't think it will cost you anything. Ask your current solicitor about it.

NAR

jtk174 wrote: »

Thanks. I know, but I will be sticking with this one. I do have a few things to hit them with, but I have a feeling they may have inflated the bill in order to reduce it later. Why send a "draft" bill after all.

Well they know you used another firm to conclude the divorce, so I think you might well be right. It sounds like they are chancing their arms to maximise the fee they receive.

saverbuyer

I wouldn't hold much hope with the Law Society especially when it comes to the "independence" of the assessor.

Ian9266

Hourly rates for solicitors can vary considerably, anything from £50-£100 per hour. 5 hours for reading over discoverable documents seems excessive but it obviously depends on how much material was involved. If there is property, shares, pensions, bank accounts etc this may be a fair amount. Care and conduct is to the best of my knowledge like a service charge at a restaurant and should be negotiable. 33% sounds harsh to me. The cost of the divorce itself depends on whether or not they were doing it through the county court or high court, the latter has higher costs especially if a barrister was instructed. As has been suggested ask to meet them and discuss the bill. I'm sure they will lower it. Some of the work may have been done by a junior solicitor or paralegal, but they will charge as if a senior solicitor was involved. This is evident when dealing with house sales when the searches can be done online or they will send a junior clerk / secretary round to do the searches.

jtk174

Ian9266 wrote: »

Care and conduct is to the best of my knowledge like a service charge at a restaurant and should be negotiable. 33% sounds harsh to me.

They have replied and offered to discount the bill. I suspect that was part of the plan from the start, by adding a third on to begin with.

I did ask them to send me details of their complaints procedure,but the reply doesn't mention it at all!

I can't be the only person who claims to have poor service from a solicitor. Is there somewhere you can find that type of information?
A sort of Tripadvisor for Solicitors

ballyblack

Don't pay it, unless they are holding some of your money

Let them 'hound' you for it