As a specialist Family Law firm, we at Delaney Roberts Family Lawyers are here to help you navigate and resolve your Family Law matter. We understand that you have come to see us when you are going through a difficult time. Legal fees are a necessary part of what we do, and we want you to receive the best possible result without having to spend unnecessarily large amounts in legal fees.
Here are some of the ways you can minimise your legal fees:
Understand your legal fees
- Lawyers charge by the hour or part of an hour, similar to accountants, plumbers and electricians. The hourly rate for each lawyer will reflect their level of seniority and experience. The hourly rate also takes into account that the time the lawyer spends on your case, is supported by the legal and administrative resources of our whole law firm.
- Every client receives our Legal Services Agreement at the commencement of their matter. That document sets out how the legal fees will be calculated, estimated total costs of your matter, and the various hourly rates of lawyers, paralegals and administrative staff members who may work on your matter. You should carefully read that document before signing it.
- When you are meeting with your lawyer, the shorter the meeting, the less the cost. So be prepared for the meeting by having any questions ready to ask.
- Some of the time the lawyer spends on your case involves reading emails, correspondence and documents. It can be more cost-effective if, rather than sending a number of separate emails to your lawyer about various issues, you consolidate your information or queries into one email and send that email to your lawyer to read and consider.
- If you have a simple query that can be answered by a non-lawyer, you can save costs by directing your query to one of our support staff members.
Gather your documents
- Whether your matter is a financial case or a parenting case (or both), relevant documents can be very important. If your lawyer has asked you to provide any documents, especially if you are providing the documents via email, you can save legal fees by ensuring that the documents are organised, properly named and complete, so that the lawyer or their assistant does not need to spend time collating and re-naming them before they are reviewed for use in your Family Law case.
Listen to your lawyer
- Your lawyer will provide you with their professional advice in relation to the likely outcomes in your particular case, and will discuss with you the particular strategies that they recommend in order to achieve the best possible outcome.
- Sometimes a client may have come with different expectations, but it is important that you listen to your lawyer, discuss your expectations with them, and trust in their advice. Remember that we want you to achieve the best possible result with having to spend unnecessarily large amounts in legal fees, and that is easier to achieve if your expectations are realistic, having regard to your lawyer’s advice.
- Your lawyer acts on your instructions. If your lawyer asks you for information about an aspect of your matter, or for permission to do something to progress your case, try to respond to them with clear and concise information and instructions without undue delay. You will save legal costs if your lawyer does not need to chase a response from you.
