solicitor fee

blossom180

if a person wins a personal injury claim & costs,why does the solicitor take 10% of the money awarded.

Maldjd23

Be thankfull its just 10pc...I was involved in a car accident and went to see a solicitor, was quoted 1200 euro but didnt get the quote on paper. He ended up charging me nearly 25 pc of my claim, over three times what i was quoted, disputed his price through all legal avenues like the bar council ect but got nowhere. I found the whole system to be very closed and protective of its members..ie fcuk the public...Who polices the police and all that...Be wary and get EVERYTHING on paper.

Jo King

blossom180 wrote: »

if a person wins a personal injury claim & costs,why does the solicitor take 10% of the money awarded.

A solicitor is not allowed to charge a percentage of the sum awarded in a personal injury claim.

blossom180

Jo King wrote: »

A solicitor is not allowed to charge a percentage of the sum awarded in a personal injury claim.

thanks jo,was thinking that but was not sure.

johnnyskeleton

Was it in PIAB or in the courts?

If in PIAB he is entitled to charge a fee that will come out of the award itself and should have been agreed in advance with yourself or at least the basis for agreeing should have been set out.

If in the courts, if it was fully fought and you won you should have got an order for your legal fees paid. Thus, unless you agreed an extraordinary fee with your solicitor, you should get the full amount of the award. If it settled, it might have included costs or it might not have, you would have been told about this at the time that you settled.

What Jo is referring to is that the fees can't be a % of the total award i.e. a solcitor can't agree to take 10% of the award whatever the outcome. However, a solicitor is entitled to charge a fee and that fee can often come out of the award.

From the sound of it if you got your full costs (i.e. circuit court costs in the circuit court) and there was no special arrangement to pay that particular solicitor more than a usual solicitor or, for example, an additional unnecessary expense such as a senior counsel in the circuit court was taken on, then the solicitor shouldn't be taking anything out of your award because the order for costs should pay their full legal fees, reasonably incurred.

You can speak to the solicitor him/herself about this and ask them why they are taking part of the award, and failing that you can complain to the Law Society.

blossom180

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Was it in PIAB or in the courts?

If in PIAB he is entitled to charge a fee that will come out of the award itself and should have been agreed in advance with yourself or at least the basis for agreeing should have been set out.

If in the courts, if it was fully fought and you won you should have got an order for your legal fees paid. Thus, unless you agreed an extraordinary fee with your solicitor, you should get the full amount of the award. If it settled, it might have included costs or it might not have, you would have been told about this at the time that you settled.

What Jo is referring to is that the fees can't be a % of the total award i.e. a solcitor can't agree to take 10% of the award whatever the outcome. However, a solicitor is entitled to charge a fee and that fee can often come out of the award.

From the sound of it if you got your full costs (i.e. circuit court costs in the circuit court) and there was no special arrangement to pay that particular solicitor more than a usual solicitor or, for example, an additional unnecessary expense such as a senior counsel in the circuit court was taken on, then the solicitor shouldn't be taking anything out of your award because the order for costs should pay their full legal fees, reasonably incurred.

You can speak to the solicitor him/herself about this and ask them why they are taking part of the award, and failing that you can complain to the Law Society.

thanks johnny,was through the courts was awarded xxx plus costs.it was no win no fee basis.

johnnyskeleton

blossom180 wrote: »

thanks johnny,was through the courts was awarded xxx plus costs.it was no win no fee basis.

It sounds like something you should investigate further with the solicitor and, if necessary, the law society. There may be an explanation, but itshould be looked into a bit more.

Reloc8

Look, its no different in most of the important ways than anyone else who sends you a bill. If you don't understand the basis of it you sit down with them and ask it to be explained. If you dispute the bill then you dispute it.

In case of solicitors you also have the option of going to the Law Society, should all of that not give you sufficient clarity. T

There is simply no mystique about this - its a bill presented to you for services.

drkpower

Reloc8 wrote: »

There is simply no mystique about this - its a bill presented to you for services.

+1
Many people have this fear of questioning their solicitors. It also applies, even more so, to their doctors. People who are perfectly articulate, and would have a fight with a waiter in a restaurant over an extra spring roll on the bill, turn into blushing violets when it comes to these two professions.

But then when it turns sour, it is the secrecy and closed-shop of each profession that is to blame; rather than their inability to open their mouths at the appropriate time.

johnnyskeleton

drkpower wrote: »

+1
Many people have this fear of questioning their solicitors. It also applies, even more so, to their doctors. People who are perfectly articulate, and would have a fight with a waiter in a restaurant over an extra spring roll on the bill, turn into blushing violets when it comes to these two professions.

But then when it turns sour, it is the secrecy and closed-shop of each profession that is to blame; rather than their inability to open their mouths at the appropriate time.

I don't think the OP is suggesting anything about secrecy or a closed-shop, nor is she necessarily complaining about harsh treatment. She just wanted a bit of informal information before speaking to her solicitor because to be fair to her the ins and outs of legal fees are not always that clear to a person who may only use a solicitor once or twice in their entire lifetime.

blossom180

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I don't think the OP is suggesting anything about secrecy or a closed-shop, nor is she necessarily complaining about harsh treatment. She just wanted a bit of informal information before speaking to her solicitor because to be fair to her the ins and outs of legal fees are not always that clear to a person who may only use a solicitor once or twice in their entire lifetime.

thanks johnny,as said was only looking for informal information.thank you for your replies.

jenny jinks

Ask the solicitor for a written statement of account. You will then see what you have been charged for.

drkpower

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I don't think the OP is suggesting anything about secrecy or a closed-shop, nor is she necessarily complaining about harsh treatment. She just wanted a bit of informal information before speaking to her solicitor because to be fair to her the ins and outs of legal fees are not always that clear to a person who may only use a solicitor once or twice in their entire lifetime.

It wasnt aimed at the Op; more a general observation.

littlemac1980

Woah... Surely, if the person is awarded costs (presuming 100%) then the solicitor is getting paid directly from the otherside. So in fact they are not taking any money from the client, though it may be the case that they are taking 10% of the overall pay-out, but had they charged nothing then the payout would be 10% less. So the OP isn't losing any money, or so it seems to me.

Kosseegan

100 % costs are almost never awarded. By far the most usual award is for party and party costs. If the solicitor wants more than this from his own client it should be set out in writing at the start of the engagement. After the conclusion of the case a statement of account can be sought to determine what exactly has happened regarding costs.

Danixxx

In regards to getting a detailed invoice from the solicitor, i'm still waiting 3 years for a breakdown of an invoice that was sent to me, because I couldn't identify how he calculated his fee. He hasn't chased me for payment since!!

tombren

As has been said, the solicitor can't charge you a percentage of your award. even if he did, 10% of your award is very unlikely to cover all legal costs incurred.
What may have happened is you got awarded your costs on a party and party basis, the solicitor submitted his bill of costs to the other side for payment, deductions were made and he's now looking to you to make up any shortfall between what he claimed and what he recovered.
Not all costs incurred are recoverable on a party and party basis. If you're not happy with the bill, a complaint to the law society will probably do u no good.*
Having your costs taxed before the taxing master/county registrar is probably the best way to proceed

FreudianSlippers

tombren wrote: »

Having your costs taxed before the taxing master/county registrar is probably the best way to proceed

+1


As a side note, is it possible that OP is merely confused and assumes that because the Solicitor's fees + the award = "x" amount... and the Solicitor's fees are 10% of that "x" amount that the Solicitor is charging a per cent?
Sorry, didn't have a chance to read the whole thread but it is possible.

littlemac1980

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

+1


As a side note, is it possible that OP is merely confused and assumes that because the Solicitor's fees + the award = "x" amount... and the Solicitor's fees are 10% of that "x" amount that the Solicitor is charging a per cent?
Sorry, didn't have a chance to read the whole thread but it is possible.

Essentially the same point I made in an earlier reply. But you're calculus method of explaining it seems a bit clearer.

FreudianSlippers

littlemac1980 wrote: »

Essentially the same point I made in an earlier reply. But you're calculus method of explaining it seems a bit clearer.

Merely oversight

tricialou

hi my solicitor took nearly 20,000 out of my personal injury claim,
he would not let my mother into the room with me in the court case and is denying i ever asked..
I am going through the law society and it is a very slow process
I felt like an idiot for trusting this man but apparantly it is happening all the time...
hopefully it will be sorted out
I have no faith in solicitors .. they can rob people blind yet are not regarded as common criminals
if a junkie on the street robbed me i could go to the police yet if it is a professional we cant and nothing happens... as least when your robbed on the street you know...people do not even know that they are being robbed by the people the trust to work for them!!

theblueirish

I know this is an old thread that has been dug up but I find myself in the same situation.

My solicitor handled an employment law case for me, it never went to court and I got a settlement from my employer, I then got my solicitors bill which came to 10% of my settlement.

I have asked for a detailed statement and all i get is a breakdown something like this:
telephone call on a date,
meeting with myself,
reviewing emails,
meeting with myself,
telephone call to the company
etc etc,

than a total cost,

one of the lines says a letter to me detailing the basis of fees, all he gave me was a leaflet from the law society.

In total i had three one hour meetings and two ten minute phone calls. I know he had other work to carry out but it wouldn't have thought it would come to five hours in total.

If that was the case he was on almost €1000 an hour.

I have asked numerous times for a detailed breakdown but to no avail.

tricialou

Sorry to hear that blue irish
You have two options
1) go to the law society - it is slow, but free. they act as mediators between you and your solicitor and then intervent if ye cant reach a solicior
2) go to the taxing master- it is fast but you might have to pay something if you dont win your case
It looks like you would win your case as it seems outrageours
the worst thing you can do is let him / her get away with it
I was lucky in that i know a solicitor that gave me free advise and reassured me that I was being ripped off (the solicitor will say it is normal practice and even make you feel guilty for questioning them)
The solicitor friend also said the law society are aware of all their tricks so even though my solicitor is denying me asking for support with reading the papers apparantly they do this all the time - so they will believe me!!
If you have any questions feel free to message me
I understand how stressfull it is
I would also advise you not to seek advise from another solicitor about this unless you know them personally because they will also charge you through the roof and you will be back in square one again!!!

theblueirish

Thanks for the help,
I have had a letter drafted from another solicitor, I am sending it to him this week, he thinks its over the top to and reckons it should have been in the area of 500 as it never went to court.