What Legal Help Costs
Published because the most common reason people do not get advice is that they cannot find out what it will cost until they are already in a meeting.
Legal costs in Queensland are regulated by the Legal Profession Act 2007, which requires a solicitor to disclose the basis of their fees and an estimate of the total before work begins. Fees are usually charged as a fixed fee or at an hourly rate, with disbursements charged separately. Contingency fees calculated as a percentage of the amount recovered are prohibited in Australia.
The disclosure obligation comes first
A solicitor in Queensland is required to disclose costs to a client, and the obligation is triggered at the start of the engagement rather than when the bill arrives. Disclosure must cover the basis on which fees will be calculated and an estimate of the total, and it must be updated if that estimate changes materially. There are limited exceptions for very small matters.
This is a legal obligation, not a courtesy, and it is the single most useful thing for a prospective client to know. If you cannot get a clear answer about how fees will be calculated before you commit, that is not a sign that your matter is unusually complicated. It is a sign about the firm.
An estimate is an estimate. Litigation in particular is affected by what the other side does, and no honest lawyer can guarantee a total for a contested matter. What they can do is explain the basis, give a range, tell you what would move it, and update you when it moves.
The three ways fees are usually charged
Disbursements sit outside all three. These are amounts the firm pays on your behalf — court filing fees, barristers’ fees, expert reports, search fees, service costs, travel. They are real money and they can be substantial in litigation. Ask whether they are included in any figure you are given, because usually they are not.
What no win no fee does not mean
Two things are commonly misunderstood, and both cost people money.
The first is that deferring professional fees rarely defers disbursements. A client who loses may still be out of pocket for filing fees, expert reports and counsel, unless the agreement says otherwise. Ask specifically: if this fails, what do I owe?
The second is adverse costs. In civil litigation the ordinary position is that an unsuccessful party pays a proportion of the successful party’s costs. A no win no fee agreement with your own solicitor does not protect you from the other side’s costs, which are a separate and often larger exposure. Whether that risk can be insured or managed is a question worth asking before proceedings are commenced.
It is also worth knowing what is not permitted. A contingency fee — a fee calculated as a percentage of the amount recovered — is prohibited in Australia. An uplift fee, being an additional percentage of the professional fees charged for taking a matter on a speculative basis, is permitted in some circumstances and subject to statutory conditions and caps. If a firm offers you a percentage of your settlement, that is not a competitive offer; it is an unlawful one.
If you think a bill is too high
You are entitled to request an itemised bill, and you can apply to have costs assessed — an independent review of whether what was charged is fair and reasonable. There are time limits on applying for assessment, so a bill you dispute should not be left in a drawer.
A complaint about a solicitor’s conduct, as distinct from the amount of a bill, is made to the Legal Services Commission. Both pathways are set out on our rights as a client page.
If cost is the barrier to getting any advice at all, Legal Aid Queensland and community legal centres provide free assistance subject to eligibility, and duty lawyers are available at many courthouses for criminal and domestic violence matters. Those services are listed on our official sources and support page.
Costs disclosure thresholds, the conditions and caps applying to uplift fees, and the time limits for costs assessment are set by legislation and have been amended. No figures are reproduced here. Confirm the current position against the Legal Profession Act 2007 and the Queensland Law Society. See sources 1 and 3.
Further sources for the Knowledge Hub as a whole are listed on the hub source list.