New rules have come into force changing the rules a solicitor has to follow when they bill their clients. In short, they have to be more open and transparent.
However, there are also some things you can do that might help you keep the costs down.
These are our six top tips:
- Set clear goals from the start about what you want to achieve. This will help your solicitor to advise you whether you are being realistic and to ascertain what might be involved.
- Resist the temptation to send your solicitor every single piece of correspondence or document you might have. Cherry-pick what is important and relevant – or you may be charged for reading and sorting through them.
- Prepare for meetings. Organising yourself and your documents can save valuable time which you are being charged for.
- Ask yourself if you need to pay for both a barrister and a solicitor at your court hearing. It is usually not essential to have both.
- Your lawyer is not your counsellor. Ask yourself are you calling your solicitor to rant, or seek emotional support? Are you being charged to off-load issues which a friend or family member could do for free?
- Don’t be tempted to send long emotional emails late at night. A phone call after a good night’s sleep will often be cheaper and quicker than someone having to respond to each point in your email.
Of course, we can help you direct, and we don’t have the high overheads or expensive offices and support staff to pay for, like a solicitor does.
We don’t just do representation at court but can give you general child-law advice and help you prepare documents for court, if you are representing yourself. Do get in touch.