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Fees
Fees
Gittens, de Beer & Associates in St. John’s has a team of lawyers who are committed to helping you in a professional and timely manner. We will study your case thoroughly and work towards achieving favourable results. Browse through this page for more information about our fees structure. Give us a call today to learn more.
We charge fees in three ways:
At a fixed rate for a certain task
At an hourly rate for the number of hours required to complete the work you request
As a percentage of the amount we recover on your behalf
Fixed Fees
Certain tasks are billed at a fixed rate, such as:
A real estate transaction
An uncontested divorce
Preparing or probating a will
A quotation of a fixed fee, however, assumes that we know at the time of the quotation the important details necessary to determine the amount of time and effort involved.
Hourly Rates
We sell our time and expertise. In this regard we have standard rates; they vary with the type and complexity of the services we provide.
Before we are retained by you, we will give you a quotation of the hourly rates for the various partners, associates and paralegals in our firm. The rate charged will depend on the expertise and qualifications of the individual who does a particular task. Our goal is to provide you with legal services in the most cost effective manner possible. Accordingly, if you wish, less demanding and routine tasks will be delegated to those lawyers or paralegals who have a lower hourly rate.
When performing work for an hourly rate, it is our custom to require the payment of a retainer. A retainer is essentially a down payment which is deposited for you in a trust account. We do not take any money from the account until we have billed you and accounted for the work we have done. The amount of a retainer is dependent on the nature and extent of the work you are asking us to do.
We render regular bills, usually monthly, unless you instruct us to do otherwise. We believe that this is in your best interest as it allows you to monitor the work which we are doing and to be aware of the costs at each stage of the process. Also, we encourage our clients to feel free to request a bill or statement of account at any time.
Contingency Fees
A contingency fee is calculated as a percentage of the money which we are ultimately able to collect for you. The percentage amount is set before we begin our work. Any contingency fee to which we agree is guaranteed and is always set out in a contract between you and the firm. In the unlikely event that we are not successful in collecting any money as a result of our efforts, you will not be charged a fee.
Disbursements
Disbursements are expenses which we pay on your behalf. For example, when we pay the court or a government registry to register a document, or a courier to deliver a document, the cost is called a disbursement. Other common disbursements are photocopies, long-distance charge and mileage.
How to Minimize Your Costs
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If you have information for us, write it out chronologically. That's more efficient than telling us the information, which we then have to write down.
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When you have several questions for us, write them down, then call us and discuss all of them at once. Again, that's more efficient than three separate telephone calls.
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If you have documents you need us to review, drop them off yourself rather than paying the cost of a courier. When you want to consult us about a particular issue, bring all of your documentation with you rather than giving the information bit by bit.
