CLIENT SERVICES

o Client Charter
o Client Care
o How Do We Calculate Our Fees?
o Can I recover my legal fees or costs in court?
o Tips on keeping your legal costs down

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Client Charter

Whatever legal services you need, you have the right to be treated with care and professionalism by your lawyer. The Client Charter is your guide to what to expect from us in terms of customer care.

Working Together - Whilst we have various duties to you as our client, we can only give our best advice and service if the information you provide is accurate and complete.

We will:

	Put your interest first when representing you
	Be polite and considerate in our dealings with you
	Find out from the start what you are hoping top achieve, and aim to make sure that your expectations are realistic
	Make every effort to explain things clearly
	Tell you who will be handling your work
	General legal principles applicable to businesses
	Explain to you what the costs are likely to be and keep you informed of the costs throughout so that you can determine if a particular course of action is economical
	Respond to your letters / phone calls
	Update you on developments as and when they occur
	Give you a clear bill showing work done and the amount charged
	Treat all clients fairly
	Keep what you tell us confidential and refuse to act for anyone else if doing so could compromise that confidentiality

Please Note: There are legal and professional duties which may affect our ability to meet all these standards. For example our duty to the court can override the duty to put your interest first.

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Client Care

Excellent client care is the cornerstone of the success of our law practice. Our client care guidelines have been developed to ensure that we do not alienate clients and to prevent misunderstandings from occurring.

The First Interview - At the first interview the lawyer will:

	Obtain the personal particulars of the client viz name, NRIC No., address, contact particulars etc …
	Query about the field of law involved e.g. matrimonial, commercial etc …
	Obtain the particulars of the opponent or other parties involved
	Inform the client that the interview is free or being charged (if the interview is being charged it is usually on the following terms: the first y minutes are free and thereafter they will be charged pro rata at the rate of $x per hour.)
	If the interview is being charged, the interviewee will have to sign a pro-forma document in advance.

Client Care Letter - Upon being engaged in any matter we will send a client care letter with the following information:

	Confirming the client's particulars
	State what we are instructed to do
	Give an overall estimate of the costs
	Give the name of the lawyer who will be dealing with the matter

Legal Costs

When you consult a lawyer, you will become responsible to pay for the work done in carrying out your instructions and looking after your interest. Often lawyers pay for the expenses in the course of looking after your affairs, such as court stamp fees. It is your responsibility to reimburse the lawyer for these payments on request.

The amounts charged by the lawyer are known as costs, and the expenses paid on your behalf are called disbursements.

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How Do We Calculate Our Fees?

Hourly Rates

We keep a record of the time spent by all lawyers, working on your file. This time is billed at the hourly rates in effect at the time we render your account. If you request it, your lawyer will give you the detailed hourly rates in effect for all of the lawyers, working on your file. In addition, when the account is rendered, we'll provide full details of the time spent by each lawyer office. When we log the time we spend working on your behalf, we record all the work we do, including conferences with you and others, conferences among the individuals in our office working on your file, telephone calls, correspondence, e-mail, and any necessary travel time. We'll spend all the time necessary to properly advance your file-but you can still advise us not to work beyond a given fee before reviewing our progress with you, as well as the value of any additional work we think is required.

Fixed Fees

Sometimes-particularly for more routine work-we can accurately estimate how much time will be involved in a matter. In this case, we may be able to quote you a fixed fee. This approach usually applies to situations like routine wills and uncontested divorces.
Please feel free to discuss this possibility with us.

Other Important Factors

In determining your fees, we also consider the following factors

	Complexity and significance of the matter
	Level of professional skill and experience required

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Can I recover my legal fees or costs in court?

Recovery of Legal Fees or Costs in Litigation Matters

If your case goes to court, the judge may award costs to the successful party. Normally, these costs represent only part of the total legal fees.

It is possible to maximize the possibility and amount of an award of costs-in your favour-by making effective use of an offer to settle.

If your case settles before it goes to trial, in some circumstances you may be able to recover some or all of your fees and disbursements in the settlement.

If your case is lost or you don't accept an appropriate offer to settle, you may have to pay additional legal costs to your opponent.

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Tips on keeping your legal costs down

Time-Saving Tips

Since you're paying for your lawyer's time, generally the less time you use, the lower the fees you pay. These helpful hints can help you keep costs down while getting the most out of your time with your lawyer.

Before Meeting Your Lawyer

	Write out a chronology of events
	Assemble your papers and documents and put them in order-don't forget to include electronic documents like e-mail messages
	Write out the names and addresses of all relevant parties
	Outline your questions, thoughts and issues in writing

When You Talk to Your Lawyer

	Stick to the facts
	Tell the lawyer all the facts, good and bad
	Ask questions if you do not understand the advice you are given
	Ask what you can do to speed up the case and reduce your costs

After You Have Talked to Your Lawyer

	Try not to call your lawyer more often than necessary
	Consider writing or sending an e-mail whenever possible. This is an efficient way to communicate and has the advantage of providing a written record of your message.

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