One of the most recurring topics in conversations between lawyers is fees How do I calculate the fees? Will the client agree with this bill? I was wrong to give such a low estimate to my client! I have a lot of money on the street!
Not so long ago, I took my car to the dealer for maintenance and was surprised at the amount of the invoice when I picked it up. What an expensive hour of work! Without detracting from the work of some specialized mechanics, lawyers have studied a career, specialized courses and master’s degrees, we have done some internships and finally, at the time of calculating the bill or offering an estimate, we will have been practicing a profession in the field for more or less time. that we defend the rights and interests of citizens.
Many of our clients also they risk their patrimony, their honor and even their freedomtrusting us to defend them. However, when I know the fees that some colleagues have charged their clients, I conclude that they have not adequately valued their work. What’s more, many times I don’t understand how it can be profitable for them to provide a specific service at too low a price.
I wonder if they sign a lot of order forms and for this reason they manage to invoice a sufficient amount to cover their expenses, if their expenses are very low, if they work at home, if those colleagues and their team extend the day until almost dawn, etc., because I have certainly seen some very sub-par minutes.
Do we really value our work? When I talk to colleagues from other countries I am surprised at their rates and how much they earn. Let’s take the example of the United States. If we ask any American his opinion about the legal profession, he will surely tell us that it is a highly regarded job and that one earns a lot of money. Some will tell us that lawyers are rich.
In Spain, a good number of lawyers do not earn enough to make ends meet and that is why there is talk of the proletarianization of the legal profession. Today, with lawyers’ fees being free, that is, the lawyer may establish the amount he deems most appropriate, it is the client who will finally decide if he accepts his amount and hires that lawyer.
In Spain, a good number of lawyers do not earn enough to resist at the end of the month
There is fear of losing the client, fear of rejection of our budget, the need to invoice for a certain order, even if it is a very low amount. And so, one day we will wonder if our effort is properly rewardedif so many hours of work and sacrifice obtain an adequate remuneration, if we live as we had thought.
What’s more, we will question why that lawyer charges more than us for that case if we are as good lawyers as that colleague. Why does he charge that bulky fee? The answer would be that perhaps that colleague is not afraid of losing a client if he does not accept his bill. Probably that lawyer has set an amount that allows him to cover the time that he estimates that he will dedicate to that procedure, his responsibility, the interests at stake, the complexity of the case and its financial amount.
Many of our colleagues came one day to the determination not to charge less than they deserved and prefer, for example, to sign one or two contracts out of ten quotes provided to their potential clients, instead of getting all or almost all of them signed at the cost of considerably lowering their fees.
It is better to get into the habit of charging decent fees from the start of our professional practice, even if we lose some clients who do not appreciate our responsibility, than to fall into the error of wanting to achieve more orders by ostensibly reducing the bill that would be more appropriate to the case and its circumstances.
In my specialty in criminal law, I have met Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian lawyers, who in their countries charge a price for their work that is much higher compared to Spain. The difference between what a penalty shooter earns in those nations and what most of the penalty shooters get here is very large.. Let’s not say if we compare ourselves with American, British, German or Japanese lawyers, for example.
The difference between what a penalty shooter earns in those nations and what most of the penalty shooters get here is very large.
Has a client ever visited me at a time when I have had a lot of work and I have decided not to accept all the issues. As a consequence, I have offered a higher budget than usual, warning the potential client that at that time he could only carry his defense at that price and, contrary to what I supposed, he has accepted my fees. What’s more, he even told me that he thought he was going to charge more.
Be careful what you want ’cause you just might get it. You could make your firm really profitable and your dream of working fewer hours become possible, you could even take a few months off after many years of work.
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This article is the forty-fourth in the series Tips for Highly Effective Lawyersfrom the author louis romero santos. You can visit his profile by clicking on this link to see the rest of the content.
