“My mother passed away and divided a small holding between four siblings. This included a small cottage and less than 30 acres of land, all below the threshold for inheritance tax. The solicitor has recently sent a bill for €16,000 divided equally between the four of us. Is this normal? It was a simple transfer and it seems a huge amount for professional fees. How do they calculate their fees? What advice do you have?”
Assuming it was a simple transfer, this bill does seem excessive. Did you receive a copy of a fee estimate from your solicitor before they took on the case? Your solicitor is obliged at the time of taking your case to write to you with information about your legal costs. This should include how much your solicitor is charging you, or an estimate of how much they will charge you, or how your charges will be worked out.
In determining how the charges will be worked out, the solicitor can consider factors such as how complicated, urgent and important your case is; how difficult or new the questions about your case are; the specialised knowledge and responsibility of your solicitor and staff involved; the number of hours your solicitor and staff spend on your case; the number and importance of documents they prepare or examine; the value of any transaction involved; whether your solicitor has to travel; and the circumstances in which your solicitor deals with the case.
When you get your bill it should include the following:
Your solicitor’s professional fee for the work, Charges for general expenses, such as stationery and postage, Other charges incurred on your behalf, VAT.A solicitor’s professional fee must be reasonable for the work undertaken. If you think it is unreasonable, you are entitled to make representations to him/her.
I would suggest that you meet with your solicitor to go through the bill. Ask for a detailed breakdown of it if it has not already been furnished and ask them to go through their file with you to illustrate work undertaken on your behalf. If you can’t reach agreement, you can make a complaint to the Law Society or have your bill “taxed” by a court official called a Taxing Master.
Taxation of costs
The taxation of costs has nothing to do with tax in the normal sense of the word. They assess legal costs having considered submissions and supporting documentation from both sides.
A client must request his/her solicitor to refer the bill to the taxing master within one year of its delivery. The solicitor will set down the matter for taxation and you will be notified of the date of taxation and should attend.
On the date of the hearing, the client and the solicitor are entitled to make submissions. The taxing master will consider the submissions and make a decision allowing what he considers to be fair and reasonable costs.
Either party may apply to the taxing master to review the taxation or can apply
to court for an order to review it. On completion, the taxing master will issue a certificate of taxation which is required to enforce his/her decision.
Complaint to Law Society
The Law Society of Ireland can deal with a complaint by or on behalf of a client that a bill is excessive. However, the Society is not permitted to consider any complaint about a bill more than five years old or one set down for taxation. It does not matter if you have paid your bill – if the fee is excessive, the solicitor may have to refund/waive all or part of the fee.
The first step in the process is to write to the solicitor to explain your dissatisfaction and set out what you want them to do. If you do not get satisfaction, you can write to the Complaints and Client Relations section of the Law Society with details of your complaint. This will be assigned to an investigating solicitor in the Law Society who will copy your letter to the solicitor for their comment. You will be copied on any response.
If the Society is satisfied that the solicitor’s explanations are reasonable, you
will be informed that the Society will not intervene.
However, if the problem can’t be resolved by the investigating solicitor, they may refer the complaint to the Complaints and Client Relations Committee of the Law Society, who may interview the solicitor and may uphold or reject the complaint, direct the solicitor to take certain steps, and require the solicitor to waive/refund fees.
If you are unhappy with how your complaint was handled by the Society, the independent adjudicator can look at your file and if she is dissatisfied with the way in which the investigation was conducted, can direct the matter to be re-opened.
“My mother passed away and divided a small holding between four siblings. This included a small cottage and less than 30 acres of land, all below the threshold for inheritance tax. The solicitor has recently sent a bill for €16,000 divided equally between the four of us. Is this normal? It was a simple transfer and it seems a huge amount for professional fees. How do they calculate their fees? What advice do you have?”
Assuming it was a simple transfer, this bill does seem excessive. Did you receive a copy of a fee estimate from your solicitor before they took on the case? Your solicitor is obliged at the time of taking your case to write to you with information about your legal costs. This should include how much your solicitor is charging you, or an estimate of how much they will charge you, or how your charges will be worked out.
In determining how the charges will be worked out, the solicitor can consider factors such as how complicated, urgent and important your case is; how difficult or new the questions about your case are; the specialised knowledge and responsibility of your solicitor and staff involved; the number of hours your solicitor and staff spend on your case; the number and importance of documents they prepare or examine; the value of any transaction involved; whether your solicitor has to travel; and the circumstances in which your solicitor deals with the case.
When you get your bill it should include the following:
Your solicitor’s professional fee for the work, Charges for general expenses, such as stationery and postage, Other charges incurred on your behalf, VAT.A solicitor’s professional fee must be reasonable for the work undertaken. If you think it is unreasonable, you are entitled to make representations to him/her.
I would suggest that you meet with your solicitor to go through the bill. Ask for a detailed breakdown of it if it has not already been furnished and ask them to go through their file with you to illustrate work undertaken on your behalf. If you can’t reach agreement, you can make a complaint to the Law Society or have your bill “taxed” by a court official called a Taxing Master.
Taxation of costs
The taxation of costs has nothing to do with tax in the normal sense of the word. They assess legal costs having considered submissions and supporting documentation from both sides.
A client must request his/her solicitor to refer the bill to the taxing master within one year of its delivery. The solicitor will set down the matter for taxation and you will be notified of the date of taxation and should attend.
On the date of the hearing, the client and the solicitor are entitled to make submissions. The taxing master will consider the submissions and make a decision allowing what he considers to be fair and reasonable costs.
Either party may apply to the taxing master to review the taxation or can apply
to court for an order to review it. On completion, the taxing master will issue a certificate of taxation which is required to enforce his/her decision.
Complaint to Law Society
The Law Society of Ireland can deal with a complaint by or on behalf of a client that a bill is excessive. However, the Society is not permitted to consider any complaint about a bill more than five years old or one set down for taxation. It does not matter if you have paid your bill – if the fee is excessive, the solicitor may have to refund/waive all or part of the fee.
The first step in the process is to write to the solicitor to explain your dissatisfaction and set out what you want them to do. If you do not get satisfaction, you can write to the Complaints and Client Relations section of the Law Society with details of your complaint. This will be assigned to an investigating solicitor in the Law Society who will copy your letter to the solicitor for their comment. You will be copied on any response.
If the Society is satisfied that the solicitor’s explanations are reasonable, you
will be informed that the Society will not intervene.
However, if the problem can’t be resolved by the investigating solicitor, they may refer the complaint to the Complaints and Client Relations Committee of the Law Society, who may interview the solicitor and may uphold or reject the complaint, direct the solicitor to take certain steps, and require the solicitor to waive/refund fees.
If you are unhappy with how your complaint was handled by the Society, the independent adjudicator can look at your file and if she is dissatisfied with the way in which the investigation was conducted, can direct the matter to be re-opened.
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