Lawyer’s Cost Agreement and Cost Disclosure Statement – What does it all mean
How do you make heads and tails of what you will be charged when you consult a lawyer? When engaging a law firm, you will be provided with a Cost Agreement and Cost Disclosure Statement. These items are formal documents that are provided to you. The documents are between our practice and you to formalise the arrangement between us. That arrangement is a contract, and it means that in exchange for us undertaking your work, you agree to pay us.
The Cost Disclosure Statement lists detailed information of the work that we will undertake on your matter, known as the scope of work, and the amount that we will charge you for that work. The Cost Agreement outlines the legal terms and conditions of the agreement between our firm and you. These documents are provided to you in accordance with the Legal Professional Uniform Law.
If at any time during your matter your instructions to our office alter or additional work is requested by you that is outside the original scope of work outlined in the Cost Disclosure Statement, this will incur further costs. We will notify you and provide you with a cost update if this happens.
We strongly encourage you to always read any correspondence you receive from us and action anything requested of you in a timely manner. This this will reduce the amount of communication and correspondence to you and means we can concentrate on working for you in an efficient and timely manner. Your prompt responses to our correspondence can ensure costs are kept to a minimum.
To avoid any unnecessary surprises and additional fees, it is important that you take the time to read through the Cost Agreement and Cost Disclosure Statement sent to you and ensure that you understand exactly what the scope of work is that we will be undertaking and the cost estimate for that scope. Anything outside of the scope of work is not included in the original cost estimate. If you ask us to do something that is not within that scope of work, we will let you know that it will incur extra fees and what hose extra fees are.
At Wollerman Shacklock Lawyers we do our utmost to ensure you receive honesty, care and professionalism. If there is any aspect of the Cost Agreement or Cost Disclosure Statement that you do not understand or wish for more work to be undertaken that what is outlined in the Cost Disclosure Statement, be sure to contact our office and our friendly staff will be pleased to assist.