Charge of Professional Fees Flashcards
What is a Scale Fee?
Fees charged under Scales I and II Legal Practitioner (Remuneration for documentation and other land matters) order in non-contentious matters. Fees are fixed and cannot be disputed or varied by the court.
What is a Fixed Fee?
A fee charged for specified class of works, such as writing letters, writing a will, or incorporation of business entities. It is usually a flat rate for simple non-contentious works.
What is an Hourly Rate Fee?
A fee charged on an hourly basis for the number of hours spent on the client’s work. The time spent must be commensurate and reasonable to the work done.
What is a Percentage Fee?
A fee charged based on the value of the transaction; the higher the value, the higher the percentage charged. Common in property transactions, especially the sale of land.
What is an Appearance Fee?
A fee charged for each appearance in court to represent a client. The fee is influenced by the distance of the law firm from the court and the standing of the legal practitioner.
What is a Contingent or Success-Based Fee?
A fee charged after the success of the action, based on the amount recovered. If no amount is recovered, the solicitor may earn nothing. It is prohibited under common law for criminal matters.
What does Pro Bono mean?
Legal services rendered with no professional fees collected, only costs paid by the client.
What is Retainership?
The various ways in which a client may engage a legal practitioner, either for specific legal work (Special Retainer) or for all legal works (General Retainer).
What is a Special Retainer?
A lawyer is engaged on a particular matter of a client, meaning the lawyer can only represent adverse clients on unrelated matters.
What is a General Retainer?
The legal practitioner represents a client on all matters, and cannot represent adverse parties against the client’s interests.
What is the procedure for the recovery of professional fees?
Prepare a Bill of Charges, deliver it to the client, wait one month, and if unpaid, sue to recover fees in court.
What is a Bill of Charges?
Detailed information on the nature of work done by a legal practitioner for the client, including fees charged for each work.
What are the contents of a Bill of Charges?
The name and address of the Legal Practitioner, the name and address of the Client, nature of the brief, date of principal items, particulars of principal items and cost, method of payment, and a warning about legal action for non-payment.
What is the Taxation of a Bill of Charges?
If a client is not satisfied with the bill, they may apply to the Court for it to be taxed within one month of receipt.
What is the status of a Bill of Charges with insufficient particulars?
It may still ground an action for recovery of professional charges unless it is so defective that it is incurably bad.
