QLD Lawyer Fees - What is Charged by a Lawyer?

Possibly yes. They should tell you how they are charging you in the initial engagement letter or costs agreement. If the likely cost is over $1,500 they must provide you with a full costs agreement under the Legal Profession Act.

Check those documents and see the basis under which they are charging you:

- If it is a lump sum/agreed amount, they shouldn't charge you for this type of thing as long as it is not done too often - if you increase their workload beyond what is reasonable, they have the right to revise their quote.
- If it is a time costed amount, they most likely will charge you. You might get a couple/short answers are freebies (I do this in the interests of client service). The chances of these freebies generally decrease with the size of the firm, the lower the seniority of the practitioner (they have budgets to make), and the frequency of the requests.

- Normal waiting time is a bit "how long is a piece of string". It depends on a lot of factors, including how long it takes (or even whether) for the other side's lawyer to obtain instructions. Your lawyer should gauge the anticipated time and follow it up on their own accord.

- There are a lot of contributing variables to what a matter costs, and only a small part of it is controllable by you. My suggestions are: listen carefully to what your lawyers asks of you and tells you, give full, complete and relevant answers to any queries, and be decisive when asked what you want to do. Giving relevant answers is a key point. Your lawyer will charge you for wading through information that is not relevant, and for having to pick out the relevant points. The key to being able to do this is to listen to exactly what they are asking you for. Lawyers tend not to mince words. If there is backstory that could be relevant, tell them it exists first and ask whether they need it.

- No, and please don't do that unless it is an absolute emergency. It's a breach of ethics for a lawyer to communicate with another lawyer's client without proper consents in place - and even then most lawyers won't do it. You should only consider it if something is exceedingly urgent and you cannot get ahold of anyone at your lawyer's firm. Even then, you may be turned away.

peter6 said:

I have a few exchanges with other side's lawyer before engaged with my current lawyer. Is it proper for me to ask other side's lawyer about if they will respond to my lawyer's letter?

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No, it isn't.
I've sacked clients for getting in touch with the other side's lawyer. I won't have it.
Quite apart from everything that @Rob Legat - SBPL says above, it's just impossible to work if it's happening.

And Rob Legat - SBPL said:

- No, and please don't do that unless it is an absolute emergency. It's a breach of ethics for a lawyer to communicate with another lawyer's client without proper consents in place - and even then most lawyers won't do it. You should only consider it if something is exceedingly urgent and you cannot get ahold of anyone at your lawyer's firm. Even then, you may be turned away.

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I would add that what the client thinks is exceedingly urgent, or an "absolute emergency", probably isn't.
Being patient while anxious is one of the hardest things for any client to do.
Being patient with a client who is impatient while anxious
is one of the hardest things for a lawyer to do.

As to billing for phone calls, etc, it depends.
I look to a phrase in tax law - "minor, infrequent, and irregular" - as a gauge.
If your contact is of that nature, then, like Rob, I tend to think of it in terms of customer service.

But, if it's something that...

• our very clever and efficient clerk cannot handle; or
• is a conversation that is (or becomes) lengthy, or becomes detailed,
  or becomes a "counselling session"; or
• if the client wants me to Do Something new or extra,

then I'll tend to bill for that.

Lawyers charges vary from the type of case they are handling. Some that handle divorce have a base charge and the duration of the case. The difficulty also adds factors on the charge. So it varies a lot.

My lawyer charges if she rings And I’m not available or if she rings my ex lawyer and he is not a available.

My ex sent my lawyer an email!!!

I got charged $1000 for meeting which achieved nothing. Just few suggestions on how to mediate which I just went along with their advice then I got charged for her to make the calls her lawyer etc incl my dad. And basically said it will not work !!!