CHARGING THE FEE
A labourer is
worthy of his wages
The Holy Bible
The first part of this book has shown
that the client is the lawyer’s best friend. It demonstrates also that clients
are drawn to a lawyer’s chambers on the strength of his reputation. Clients are
important to them because they put money in their pockets. The money they pay
in return for service is called fees. Fees are very important. Lawyers live on
fees.
When a client comes to a lawyer’s
chambers, ordinarily he expects to be charged for services rendered. What he
eventually agrees to pay depends a lot on the lawyer’s actual charge – the much
consideration the lawyer wants for his services.
Charging the appropriate fee is a
problem for many lawyers. They do not know how to do it, so they do it badly.
The lack of knowledge in this vital area has been a big factor in the poverty
of not a few lawyers. Because they charge poorly or wrongly, either or both of
these two evils visit them:
(a) Clients’ needless desertion
(b) Unprofitable labour
Charging a client
is not a job to be done carelessly or hurriedly. The exercise must be
thoughtfully done, for the lawyer to achieve the ‘appropriate charging.’ The
following factors need to be taken into consideration by the counsel when
charging the client.
1.THE STATUS OF
THE LEGAL PRACTITIONER
In the kingdom of lawyers, all animals
are not equal. In fact, there are at least four classes of lawyers to wit:
a. The Super-High Level
b. The High Level
c. The Middle Level
d. The Low Level
A lawyer is not a
good fee charger if he charges much below or above his level. This is because a
lawyer’s status – at least in the eye of the public, determines or influences
the quantum of fees a prospective client is willing to pay him.
Lawyers in Groups ‘a’ and ‘b’ on account
of their established reputations and
fame, often demand and usually receive
fat fees, in the range of millions. They cater to the rich and the elite in the
society who can afford their heavy charges.
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