Charges
Carter Lemon Camerons LLP is a business and we charge for the work we do. It is important, though, that our clients are content with the way we approach charging and understand it.
- How much will you charge?
Most of our work is charged by reference to agreed hourly rates, and we follow the profession’s guidelines in using 6 minute minimum units and updating our time rates not more than once per year. The rates vary according to the experience and qualification of the person involved and we do not charge for secretarial or I.T. support, only for lawyers’ time and that of trainees and paralegals. For some work it is appropriate to offer a charge for a task (e.g. for buying or selling a house/flat of a particular value) and in that case the fee is not directly related to the time commitment.
- Why it difficult to get a straight answer on this critical issue?
Most misunderstanding on fees happens because the nature of the work changes as the transaction progresses. So we give a fee for buying a house, but the first deal falls through and the second one involves a house with uncertain boundaries and covenants. You restructure your finance with part coming from conventional mortgage and part from a family Trust. The sellers cannot prove the building was properly authorised planning permission and building regulations are an issue. At this point the original fee-estimate is inappropriate as the nature of the deal has shifted and the work we must do is different. It is for you and us to work together to avoid misunderstandings of this nature and the vast majority of our work is billed on agreed bases to clients who recognise the sensible relationship between what we do and what they pay.
- What terms and conditions apply to your work?
Like most businesses we have standard terms and conditions which are intended to reduce the amount of correspondence needed at the outset of a matter and to deal with standard issues between clients and us.
- When and how do you expect to be paid?
If we are paying things for you or giving a professional undertaking that something you owe will be paid, we must insist on you funding that in advance. This is not about us getting paid more quickly but rather about us avoiding accidentally becoming a “bank” to our clients! In terms of fees for the legal work we do, we aim to agree at the outset when and how a matter will be billed. Unless otherwise agreed, a bill is due when it is presented but in any event within 30 days. A lot of our work is ongoing in nature (dispute resolution, corporate governance, title analysis) and we invoice that periodically and by agreement. Certain work can be more obviously billable at certain stages of a transaction and the date it is completed. Normally final bills are payable on completion with us deducting the fees from money involved in the transaction.