Charge for what you sell

“The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap destiny.” – James Allen  The professional fee of a legal practitioner is money a client pays for services rendered by a lawyer, […]

“The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap destiny.” – James Allen 

The professional fee of a legal practitioner is money a client pays for services rendered by a lawyer, it is likened to buying tomatoes, oranges or books over the counter, just that in the case of a lawyer, services rendered are intangible. The fee lawyers charge clients depend on various factors; the amount of time it takes to solve the problem, a lawyer’s ability, experience, and reputation, novelty and difficulty of the case, results obtained and cost involved. 

Professional fee also varies from lawyer to lawyer depending on expertise, seniority, location and urgency. 

Good representation comes with a price, thus a responsibility is placed on a legal professional before offering any service, to explain to the client the cost involved in handling a matter; don’t assume the client knows. There are clients who orchestrate a case because of close ties with a lawyer, take for example a client who wanted to sue because his licence plate number was seized by an appropriate authority on duty. Even after being advised on the futility of such course of action, he persisted on going to court. When told how much it would cost for litigation of the sort, from start to finish, however he backed down. 

Some clients are eager for trials but do not have the means to foot the bills, yet they want a lawyer. A legal professional must be wary of such clients or face the consequence of having too much on his plate with nothing to show for it;  wasting precious legal time doing things of insignificant effect instead of something productive. Please do not get me wrong, pro bono service is important to attaining Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Some 10 to 15 years, however, a lawyer who finds it difficult to provide for his immediate needs ought to avoid such a turbulent voyage at this point in time. 

Friends and neighbours would always bring a case to their closest legal professionals to attend to. Don’t be too quick to offer free legal advice. “As much as law is a profession it is also a business.” Charge for what you sell, it takes time, effort and expertise to solve a problem, why do it for free?  

Met a litigation lawyer in court who said, “a case is not always about the money but passion for the law”, while I admire his spirit and agree to a certain extent, I believe legal professionals ought to utilise every opportunity that presents itself to earn professional fees. 

There are different ways of charging clients: appearance fee, consultation fee, retainer fee, contingency fee, hourly rate, flat fees et al, it is imperative to make arrangements with a client at the earliest possible time on a payment package that best suits your legal practise style and goals. For example, a young lawyer cannot start charging consultation fee or hourly rate at his/her early stage of practice, that’s financial suicide. 

Imagine a super market owned by a family friend on the street you reside, despite the fact that a person witnessed the opening and growth of the super market, that does not give one the right to go to the super market and collect goods for free; the best that can be given is credit facility but money must change hands for every good bought in the super market no matter the close ties with the owner – why should the legal profession be any different? 

The legal skill and services rendered by a lawyer is likened to any product on a stand or counter which took years of training and discipline to accomplish, the fact that it cannot be seen or touched does not mean it should be taken for granted: Lives are saved due to this skill and likewise, properties are destroyed because of lack of it. 

Insist on professional fees for the good of both the practice and satisfaction of the client.

Godspeed! 

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