Law firms seldom tell you how to reduce the fees you pay them but here are a few tips to help keep those costs down:
- Do not do anything illegal or improper, e.g. conceal, tamper with, destroy or transmit data improperly - the unwary can be caught out unwittingly;
- Before signing a contract, particularly for any new business relationship, make sure that you get legal advice to explain what you are committing to. It is surprising the number of times this is overlooked in the haste to seal the deal. Think about price, duration, obligations and approach it with the mindset that what may go wrong will go wrong.
- Keep a signed copy of the contract in a safe (and memorable) place.
- If you have an important conversation, make a file note about it or, better still, send an email summarising the conversation and outlining what each party has agreed to do.
- If you take photographs of a site showing a problem (or indeed showing no problem) print those photographs, date them and write on them who took the photographs and where they were taken (if the camera is digital, the date may be imprinted automatically). Use the camera or video function on your smart phone as well.
- Keep your files in an orderly fashion otherwise the lawyer may end up sorting through a year's worth of filing at your expense to find important invoices or records
- When visiting your lawyer, have the sequence of events clear in your mind – a written chronology or perhaps even some dot points to assist you – and bring all of the documents with you (or at least the obviously important ones)
- Do not leave coming to see your lawyer until the last minute. With advance warning, junior lawyers can undertake tasks which, if neglected until later, can become more complex and require more senior (and hence more costly) and more urgent input.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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