General solicitor questions

[bonkersLFDT20]

Do they change for every single communication?

If I text my solicitor, will he charge me for the time he takes to read and respond to it?

If I phone him, will he charge for the length of the phone call?

And will this be the case if I'm chasing him up about something?
e.g. I called him last week. He said he'd been sending me an email that day. Nothing has arrived yet, so I called him again to today to chase it up. Will I be charged for that?

Thanks

[Collaborate]

Unless you're on a fixed fee your solicitor will charge for their time. That means letters in and out, phone calls, and other time. If you're chasing a letter you've been promised it might be better to speak to the secretary. It might have been dictated but is still waiting to be typed. You shouldn't be charged for speaking to the secretary.

If you have to then chase the solicitor in the event it hasn't been dictated I suggest you send an email. You can always put at the end that you want it confirmed that you won't be charged for chasing them. I'd expect the solicitor to agree to that.

Generally though, the more you contact your solicitor the bigger your bill will be.

[atticusclaw]

Yes you are charged for their time. Most solicitors also charge in six minute units (although some of us charge in real time rounded up only at the end of each day).

He will charge for the length of the phone call plus a few minutes afterwards for the time it takes him to write up an attendance note.

So if you send him a text message that it takes 30 seconds to read and he doesn't don't do any other work for you that day you get charged for 1 unit (6 minutes).

I wouldn't expect you to get charged for chasing if its a short "any news" email but if you're chasing constantly and you're asking for information and requiring a response then I'd expect you to be charged for that.

If you don't take up a lot of our time you get charged less.

[bonkersLFDT20]

Thank you, that is useful.