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Solicitor: Andrew Woolley
Senior Partner
Woolley & Co, Solicitors
Avon House, PO Box 1700
Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 7ZW
and Divorce Solicitor Trap
DIVORCE SOLICITOR TRAP:
Why are legal bills so high in divorce cases?
How can divorcing couples reduce them?
SOLICITOR:
This depends upon your point of view. In a recent client survey 77% thought that
we were "value for money" but they don't go around telling people that! That said
18% thought we were more expensive than they'd expected or "too expensive". So, it
is this important minority we must look to improve with.
I don't think, in general, legal bills are "so high" given the varying and complex
cases (and people) dealt with. But the perception is there, I agree.
I think in fact the concern is that many lawyers do not:
a. offer fixed fees
b. tell clients clearly what the fees will be and let the client decide if they wish
to proceed
c. keep clients informed of the account (maybe by billing and reporting monthly?)
d. Have a clear case plan and an agreement about what the desired end result is
e. use e-mail!
I believe (and my experience is) that if clients know what the fees will be, are
kept informed and understand what the lawyer is doing then they do not feel legal
fees are too high.
There are exceptions. There will always be very difficult and permanently
dissatisfied people; you know this, you were probably married to one! But also some
poor lawyers, often those who don't specialise. An example of fees being too high,
in my view, is a case costing £20,000 over assets worth £20,000. Madness.
We are very keen on helping clients keep costs down, partly as most of our
clients come from being recommended by past clients! We have published an article on
this subject here:
Control Your Costs
I refer to that but emphasise the use of counsellors and/or divorce coaches
alongside lawyers. A good lawyer will mention this when needed anyway. Get the right
people doing the right job.
Forget the hourly rate:
a. Try for a fixed fee (they can't always be given)
b. Someone charging a higher hourly rate may well do the work in many less hours IF
they are specialist and clear.
But, even a specialist lawyer working to their max will not be able to stop a
difficult spouse appealing everything and not even agreeing what day it is. There
are some of those around, aren't there?!
DIVORCE SOLICITOR TRAP:
The 77% you refer to may apply to your firm, but Divorce Solicitor Trap
reports, on the basis of on the spot polls in major towns of the South of
England, that the majority of people who dealt with solicitors at the time
of divorce had a complaint - usually about costs. This does not represent
a minority.
You talk about a case costing £20,000 over assets worth £20,000, as
madness - but surely even the same costs for assets worth twice that
figure would be just as questionable? Should a fixed percentage cost
proportion be applied to total asset value in the evaluation of a fixed
fee for example? Would that be a solution to putting a ceiling on costs?
How would a divorce coach or counsellor work alongside a solicitor? Can
you give an example of how this can be beneficial?
You mention difficult clients who disagree with everything - but is this
not simply a question of receiving bad advice from their own solicitor?
SOLICITOR:
I understand and I'm not here to defend lawyers in general. Indeed, one of the
reasons we joined this site was to learn and try to get better.
It is a complaint about the lawyer if their costs were not agreed to, known or kept
to or inflated by the lawyers errors or inexperience..
It is a complaint about the system if not.
I think spending £20k on costs to argue about £40k of assets might also be madness
but sometimes there is no alternative, in law, especially if the other party
involved just refuses to see sense, agree anything, sell anything etc.
You know I am an advocate of fixed fees. I like the idea of a % of assets but a
major problem often is in finding out what the assets actually are. But I do believe
in having a ceiling on costs.
As a general view, provided a client is fully informed about the procedure, costs,
alternatives, timing, maybe advised against proceeding etc and they wish to proceed
then I guess those costs are then reasonable?
I wasn't referring to clients but more the people they have been married to!
Many of our clients tell us "my husband / wife will be really terrible and argue
everything". Often they are right. There really isn't much one can do about that and
it significantly increases the costs.
But sometimes a lawyer gives wrong advice. That can indeed be a cause of extra
trouble and costs. That lawyer should pay for that. They often don't. All I can say
is to choose an experienced, specialist lawyer.
This is a useful link to divorce coach info:
http://www.family-lawfirm.co.uk/Support.aspx I can't say what they offer better
than Kirsten!
DIVORCE SOLICITOR TRAP:
You say: choose a specialist lawyer. Can you give us more than that, in the way of tips? Many of us did choose an experienced, specialist solicitor, but it made no difference. By specialist I assume you mean a solicitor who specialises in divorce? And how can the consumer evaluate their experience during a consultation?
SOLICITOR:
Yes, I can see that is difficult.
Actually, at my firm, when interviewing we put as much if not more emphasis on a
lawyers personal and communication skills than we do on their technical legal
ability as there seems little point in having fabulous technical legal skills unless
you can explain and also understand communications with the person being divorced!
But I think some tips for finding the right lawyer would be:
...have a good look at their website---is it up to date, can you understand it (i.e.
or does it just go on about law?)
...does the lawyer do any work other than "family" or "divorce"? You can see this on
their website and sometimes via a search for that lawyer on www.lawsociety.co.uk
...get to speak to the lawyer for free initial discussions--do you feel they can
talk to you and also will listen?
...does their publicity (maybe their website) have quotes from past clients and how
do they sound?
...is their support staff, inc their telephonist, helpful? (From the top down, comes
the attitude!)
...do a general Google search on their name: what comes up?
AN INFORMATIVE ARTICLE ON DIVORCE PROCEDURE BY ANDREW
CHECK THIS PAGE LATER - MORE INTERVIEWS TO COME...
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