Solicitors hourly rates - what's yours?

tmsphilip

Solicitors charge time in units. One unit being 6 minutes ie a 6 minute 20 second call is charged as 2 units .When you ring them up or they ring you up they press their start button on their timer on their computer .They do not like customers getting their computer printouts of their times. When I once got a breakdown of my solicitors times there was three seperate calls (of 6 minutes) and the narrative was ''client out''. When I checked with my staff she said she'd told the solicitor that I was out for the day in the first call!!!... charged 3 x 6 minutes units = 18 minutes @£185/ hour + VAT in 2003 . That is £65 per minute or £3900/ hour !! In the 1990's we all thought the mobile phone companies were over charging with minute billing ..... they changed to half minute billing and now by the second . Lawyers are living in the past to their advantage and our disadvantage.One lawyer once told me lawyers are only lawyers because they can't count (unless its their charge out costs).... and another 95% of lawyers are giving 5% of lawyers a bad name.... and another once told me that remember when you go to a lawyer over a dispute you may be an inch apart in differences... by the time the lawyers have their say you'll be a mile apart....there is a saying they ''eat what they kill''... be wary !!

FTBFun

tmsphilip wrote: »

charged 3 x 6 minutes units = 18 minutes @£185/ hour + VAT in 2003 . That is £65 per minute or £3900/ hour !!

This doesn't make any sense - its 0.3 x £185 + VAT = £55.50 + 20% = £66.60.

LandyAndy

FTBFun wrote: »

This doesn't make any sense - its 0.3 x £185 + VAT = £55.50 + 20% = £66.60.

I think the implication was that the calls were charged as 6 minutes (minimum charge period) even though they only lasted 30 seconds (the time to get the reply 'he's out)

tmsphilip

Vat was 17.5% therefore as you say 0.3 x £185 x 1.175= £65.21 (say £65) charge...... however as I was out and I estimated it took no longer than 20 seconds to say so then actually the 3 calls probably lasted 60 seconds (a minute) that means a £65 charge for a minutes ACTUAL work equates to £3900/ hour... now if it only took 10 seconds then that would eqwuate to £7800/hour !!... Hope that makes sense ?

Richard_Webster

Yes it is very common to deal in 6 minute units but most conveyancers won't be time costing in the way that litigators or commercial lawyers will so I'm not sure of the relevance of all this on this particular forum. Are posters saying that they were charged for conveyancing in this way?

saverbuyer

There are 120,000 practicing solicitors in England and Wales and only 1,000 licensed conveyencers. The vast major of conveyance work is obviously carried out by solicitors.

kuepper

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Yes it is very common to deal in 6 minute units but most conveyancers won't be time costing in the way that litigators or commercial lawyers will so I'm not sure of the relevance of all this on this particular forum. Are posters saying that they were charged for conveyancing in this way?

using cheapest i could find I am being charged by the hour ((1.5 hrs x £200 plus VAT =£360) for doing a land charge (I'm lending money to my son and his wife and want to protect my interest) which looks v straightforward to me using a CH1 form. Added to this they say there are other ppl's charges - £36 telegraphic transfer, 2 £4 bankruptcy searches, £4 for OS1 search, £19 search indemnity insurance, £20 registering charge with Landlord, £50 land registry fee.

I did a degree and post-grad qualification to become an Environmental Health Officer and later qualified as Chartered Surveyor. When I worked for councils I was probably on a max of £15 per hour and this involved being an expert witness in courts and at public inquiries. Self-employed I never charged more than £180 a DAY, that's why I'm shocked at what solicitors are quoting an hour, it's a joke TBH.

sunshinetours

kuepper wrote: »

using cheapest i could find I am being charged by the hour ((1.5 hrs x £200 plus VAT =£340) for doing a land charge (I'm lending money to my son and his wife and want to protect my interest) which looks v straightforward to me using a CH1 form. Added to this they say there are other ppl's charges - £36 telegraphic transfer, 2 £4 bankruptcy searches, £4 for OS1 search, £19 search indemnity insurance, £20 registering charge with Landlord, £50 land registry fee.

I did a degree and post-grad qualification to become an Environmental Health Officer and later qualified as Chartered Surveyor. When I worked for councils I was probably on a max of £15 per hour and this involved being an expert witness in courts and at public inquiries. Self-employed I never charged more than £180 a DAY, that's why I'm shocked at what solicitors are quoting an hour, it's a joke TBH.

Why not do the legal charge yourself then as its "looks v straightforward"?

Many people it seems struggle with the concept of a charge out rate and wages/earnings/profit

Richard_Webster

Self-employed I never charged more than £180 a DAY, that's why I'm shocked at what solicitors are quoting an hour, it's a joke TBH.

Not many builders would work for £180 per day!

Also I wouldn't do a CH1 for as little as £340. This is a form we don't use very often. Not necessarily appropriate to use it without any additional clauses. Need to make sure that client understands completely all the implications. Something goes wrong later on and you come back and ask why some point wasn't covered - not good enough then to say "You only wanted the standard form...."

LandyAndy

kuepper wrote: »

I did a degree and post-grad qualification to become an Environmental Health Officer and later qualified as Chartered Surveyor. When I worked for councils I was probably on a max of £15 per hour and this involved being an expert witness in courts and at public inquiries. Self-employed I never charged more than £180 a DAY, that's why I'm shocked at what solicitors are quoting an hour, it's a joke TBH.

How long ago was that?

MrsLA is an education consultant. She charges £400 - 500 a day but has virtually no overheads. In May she did 25 chargeable days, in September she did none. that is all part of the risk and reward of being self employed.