The small office, hands-on model approach at
Dean R Love & Associates helps keeps legal
costs under control, but the fact remains that
legal proceedings can be expensive and cases
can develop in unpredictable ways that change
expected costs.
Much depends upon the nature of the problem,
what the other parties do, and what the Court
ultimately decides. It is impossible to be
precise with the cost involved, or to
guarantee that you will be successful.
What we try to do is give reasonable estimates
of what things will cost, based on our
experience. We think that our estimates are,
when all variables are taken into account,
much lower than that of most other law firms,
big or small.
Like most lawyers, we charge at an hourly rate
(and while this varies among staff members, it
is usually less than that charged by most
lawyers in Perth). We will also do Legal Aid
work.
We may request an initial deposit up front
when we take instructions, because this is to
cover the initial investigation of the merits
of your case, and research, drafting &
preparing documents or letters of advice,
company and land title searches, court filing
fees and service fees as well as our
professional fees. We usually require a
deposit into trust before appearing in court.
During the course of your matter we will
interim bill you, generally once per month
(unless another arrangement is made). Each
month we will review the progress of your
matter and send you a progress report. We will
also report on any developments such as court
appearances, or tell you when the other side
has done something significant. We will send
you copies of all letters and documents we
receive, and also seek your approval before
filing any court documents we prepare for you.
We do accept Legal Aid cases and will apply
for Legal Aid on your behalf, if appropriate.
If you receive Legal Aid, then we will not
bill you at all, but rather bill the Legal Aid
Commission. However, it should be understood
that extensions of Legal Aid must be sought
for each new stage of your matter, otherwise
we cannot continue to assist you.
In certain circumstances we may be able to
arrange litigation finance to fund a long term
legal battle, where the matter is likely to
proceed to a trial.
We do not offer “No-Win-No-Fee” arrangements.
We believe this results in a much higher cost
to clients as the risk of losing is a cost
factor that is built into the price.
We are happy to refer you to
“No-Win-No-Fee”lawyers, but we do ask you to
consider some of the potential risks and traps
of this type of scheme.
Between the time that proceedings are
commenced, by a writ or application, until the
time a trial commences, this is called the
“interlocutory” or interim stage of the
litigation. Many matters spend a considerable
amount of time in this stage, because court
procedures require many things to be done
before it will make a final determination of a
dispute. Although these proceedings take a
long time, and much work is required, it is
necessary to go through because otherwise you
might be taken by surprise at trial with
something unexpected. You may not be well
prepared, and not given a fair hearing.
Unfortunately many people run out of money
during this stage. Some lawyers, particularly
those who represent big business, often
deliberately do things that delay these
proceedings or increase the amount of work
that needs to be done, so that you will run
out of money before the matter goes to trial.
We try to minimise the amount of work we do at
the interlocutory stage, to try and keep your
costs down. However, sometimes we do need to
do things for tactical reasons before trial,
or to respond to what the other side has done,
because it is in your best interests. We will,
of course, ask your permission to do this, but
you should understand that this may increase
your costs.
