$180 per hour to use solicitor?
- Thread starter rexilla99
- Start date
I couldn't agree more, ok you have to pay to get expert advise and it isn't cheap but when you pay someone $400 an hour and they say I can answer all your questions for you and our fee is $400 hour and your questions don't get answered that's upsetting and angers me.
One Lawyer I saw I paid $600 hr and he didn't come through with the goods as promised that he would do and I paid up front in cash. I've sent numerous emails requesting what I've already paid for to be sent out, but no response from him. And what can I do about it "nothing" take it on the chin.
And if the lawyer's advice helps you in a deal that pays you thousands in profits? It's a simple cost/return analysis, surely. A good accountant, for example, saves you more in tax than they charge you. A doctor heals you and that's worth something to you.
I remember when I did clients' tax returns (way back when) I did this one guy's return and the interest he got on the cash management trust was higher than my salary. If my advisers' advice gets me there, I'm willing to pay more. Is a Armani suit really that much better than one from Target? That's a matter of opinion. In general, better advice IS more expensive, though.
Alex
One of my mentors has taught me 2 very very very valuable lessons when it comes to value vs cost.
1.You dont get what you dont pay for, and its this that will come and bite you.
2.The "cost" of buying something (say a new tool or tape set) or getting appropriate advice................................Rolf, do you mean the cost of buying that or NOT buying that ? I can quantify the cost of getting that advice, but obviously I cant quantify the cost of not getting it.
ta
rolf
1.You dont get what you dont pay for, and its this that will come and bite you.
2.The "cost" of buying something (say a new tool or tape set) or getting appropriate advice................................Rolf, do you mean the cost of buying that or NOT buying that ? I can quantify the cost of getting that advice, but obviously I cant quantify the cost of not getting it.
ta
rolf
I'll remember that next time I do a repair on someones boat that stop's it from sinking.
i'll just say, "I just saved your $200,000 boat from going to the bottom, surely i'm worth $200/hour"
or new tyres on your car may save your life in an accident, why not pay $200/hour to the tyre fitter
Sorry, I'm with Dunc on this one.
Boat Boy
We all have choice.....................usually.
Dont want to pay the fees, then we dont need to.
Last time I looked, Australia was a free market economy in most (but not all) things..................if you can charge 500 bucks an hour for repairing a boat or 4000 for a 45 minute gall bladder removal then so be it.
I have my own (client) experience with legal people in Melbourne where they went from a fixed price conveyance of 600 flat, to 2800 because settlement went 3 days over.
When asked to justify, basically she said stuff that, I dont have to, i have authorisation from the client to go to a timed rate and thats that.......we spent a lot of extra time on the phone and the bill should have been twice that.
We had a choice, and the one we took at that time was to pay them the 2200 overcharge, with a promise that this melbourne company would getlots of anti referals from us.
ta
rolf
Dont want to pay the fees, then we dont need to.
Last time I looked, Australia was a free market economy in most (but not all) things..................if you can charge 500 bucks an hour for repairing a boat or 4000 for a 45 minute gall bladder removal then so be it.
I have my own (client) experience with legal people in Melbourne where they went from a fixed price conveyance of 600 flat, to 2800 because settlement went 3 days over.
When asked to justify, basically she said stuff that, I dont have to, i have authorisation from the client to go to a timed rate and thats that.......we spent a lot of extra time on the phone and the bill should have been twice that.
We had a choice, and the one we took at that time was to pay them the 2200 overcharge, with a promise that this melbourne company would getlots of anti referals from us.
ta
rolf
Life is full of such unfairness. Some of it benefits us (tax breaks for investing, etc), and some do not. Instead of letting it get to you, why not just accept it and concentrate on making more money from investing instead? I know I don't complain about prices and so on AS much as people who really are living payday to payday.
Alex
Alex
But sometimes those rules benefit us. 50% CGT discount, negative gearing, trusts, land tax thresholds, dividend imputation (especially great for me since my Australian tax rate is zero). It's not all bad. Gotta take the bad with the good, I say. As long term investors we're going to be better off than the best anyway.
$180 hr is cheap, but when you are paying $600 hr for a Lawyer that doesn't come through with the goods as promised and you paid up front in cash for him to do the job, you can also say just because you pay $600 hr doesn't mean you will get the best, so I paid him $1800 for 3 hr's work and what did I get that was promised in the price nothing and I'm still waiting to this day for the Lawyer to send out the work I paid him to do.
I think my biggest mistake was paying up front in cash.
And I've seen so many posts on this forum were others were not happy with most large firms charging through the roof and not getting the best advise or there questions went unanswered.
Out of 3 large firms that I've seen in the CBD I was only really happy with one and I will continue to go back to see him.
So there are some good large firms out there, its just a matter of taking the risk and spending the money to see which one will help you and not sit in the chair and say UMMM all the time.
I think my biggest mistake was paying up front in cash.
And I've seen so many posts on this forum were others were not happy with most large firms charging through the roof and not getting the best advise or there questions went unanswered.
Out of 3 large firms that I've seen in the CBD I was only really happy with one and I will continue to go back to see him.
So there are some good large firms out there, its just a matter of taking the risk and spending the money to see which one will help you and not sit in the chair and say UMMM all the time.
That is cheap
$180 is very cheap as an hourly rate, i'm a paralegal (doing civil litigation) and my work is billed at between $245 or $265 an hour depending on when the client started with us but the client does not always have to pay the full fee (depeneding on our fee's and the amount settled for or awarded by the court).
$180 is very cheap as an hourly rate, i'm a paralegal (doing civil litigation) and my work is billed at between $245 or $265 an hour depending on when the client started with us but the client does not always have to pay the full fee (depeneding on our fee's and the amount settled for or awarded by the court).
Most GPs would bill $180-220/hr assuming they are fully booked. Note that this reflects billable hours (checking results, phone calls, reading letters, etc are not usually billed). 7 hours a day. 5 days a week. 45 weeks a year (once you remove unpaid leave, sick leave, public holidays, etc). I'll let you do the maths.
Practice costs should not be more than 40% (30% if you exclude profit margins).
Dr Pulse, if you are a GP working under those conditions I suggest you renegotiate your contract (or have an accountant review your practice if you own it).
~D
Right schmight. It is what it is. If you think it's too expensive, don't use it. Otherwise just make so much money from your investments that you don't care.
When I first worked as a grad accountant, they used to charge me out at $120ph or something ridiculous. My salary was $28,000.
Alex
