10 Ways To Keep Legal Fees Down | Learn something new

10 Ways To Keep Legal Fees Down

1. Be honest with your lawyer from the beginning

When you give your initial briefing and instructions to your lawyer, they will ask you to explain all the facts and give them all of your documentary evidence. After proceedings have been issued, if it is established that your initial instructions were not completely full and honest, this could compromise your case and add to your legal fees.

As lawyers charge on a time basis, it’s important to give clear, honest and full instructions.

2. Make sure all your documents and materials are sorted and organised

Giving your lawyer all your documents and material in detailed, organised and chronological order will save time and saving time can help keep your legal costs down. These documents will often be used in providing evidence in your case, so the faster your lawyer can understand and find details in the information you gave them the better.

Your lawyer will charge you for all perusals of material in your case so the better organised your documents are, the quicker it will be for them to go through the information.

3. Be prepared for meetings and phone calls – lists will help

Before you have any meetings or phone calls with your lawyer make sure you collect your thoughts and questions first. List them down! This will minimise the rist of asking the same question or going over the same material twice. The clearer your questions are the faster your lawyers can answer them and give you advice.

4. Take notes!

Taking notes at meetings and during phone calls can help clarify the advice that your lawyers are giving you. Meetings and conferences can sometimes feel highly pressured, especially if there are a lot of complex issues being discussed. For some people, keeping up with all the advice and directions can be confusing.

You want to avoid calling your lawyer the day after a conference to ask the same question as you’ve forgotten what was said the day before. Remember, your lawyers will charge you for all time spent including answering phone calls. So take notes during every meeting, conference and phone call!

5. Don’t call or email every time something pops into your head

If there’s an emergency that requires you to call your lawyer immediately then of course you’ll need to do so. However in many cases it’s more cost-effective to gather a number of questions first and send them in the one email.

Your lawyer will charge a minimum charge each time they look at an email or receive a phone call, even if it doesn’t take the full amount of the minimum time. By building a list with a number of questions and requests you can use your lawyer’s time more effectively.

6. Remember your lawyer is a trained professional

Some laywers have many clients who read information online, ask friends for advice and then call their lawyer regularly to double-check that they’re doing the ‘right thing’.

More often than not their friends’ information is wrong, or half right, as they don’t have all the facts and legal implications and therefore haven’t considered the entirety of the situation as a lawyer would.

Also, your friends don’t have a deep understanding of the legal system and their advice or suggestions will simply confuse you. Your legal costs will increase rapidly by constantly engaging with your lawyer to double-check their advice.

7. The legal process can be a slow process

The legal system has rules and regulations that need to be followed to work towards to an end result. Trying to speed things up and constantly asking your lawyer if there is any news will often be adding to their time when there is nothing to report yet.

Be rest assured that when there is something to report your lawyer will definetly get in touch with you.

8. Respond to your Lawyers quickly when they get in touch

As a lawyer’s work is costed out on the time spent on your file, they need to keep working on new aspects of your matter and not repeat requests for information. Your lawyer will charge you for follow up calls to repeat existing information requests that you may not have responded to and to leave telephone messages for you to contact them.

An additional consequence of not responding to requests for information and conferences when asked to by your lawyers is that they may not be able to meet deadlines for submissions in your case, and this will ultimately lead to further legal costs for unnecessary appeals and motions.

9. Be realistic

Often some legal clients miss an opportunity to settle their case as they have unrealistic expectations of what are they’re entitled to. It’s important to listen to your lawyer and understand the advice they give you so you can make an informed decision when you’re asked to.

Also, your matter could be an emotional and upsetting process. Rely on your lawyers to navigate you through these difficult times. They are trained professionals who are able to deal with the issues as they arise and will be thinking in a clear and concise manner to map out a strategy and pathway to an end result.

10. Don’t get bogged down by the detail, keep your eye on the big picture

Some legal clients ask their lawyer to fight over small issues that have a monetary value that’s less than the legal fees needed to actually fight for them. So it’s important to understand that the big picture is your main claim and the most important issue, especially at mediation.

It’s also useful to remember that in a fair settlement each side must let go of some of the little issues in order to deal with the big issues. If you continually ask your lawyer to spend unnecessary time on fighting small issues you’ll add to your legal costs.

Consider these points when engaging with a lawyer as they can help you keep your legal fees down.

Source: CKL Lawyers