Solicitor ‘professional fees’

[Udford]

Is it taboo to ask a solicitor for a breakdown of what costs you’ve incurred under ‘professional fees?’

Sale of our house and our purchase fell through last year. After paying the solicitor a lump upfront, they’ve asked us for another £680. The majority of that is detailed as professional fees but when we’ve asked for this to be itemised, they’ve been very odd with us and haven’t answered our question.

Assuming it was not on a ‘fixed fee’ which you agreed to and was billed on hourly rates, the solicitor will record time spent against the file. They should be able to print this off for you. Ask for a print off of the detailed time cards from their time recording system.

At what stage did the sale and purchase fall through? Conveyancing is usually billed as a flat fee (did you get a quote at the outset of the transaction?), but if it was near completion, then if they were to have billed on an hourly rate the fees would almost certainly have been higher.

yes, that's fine - I work in that area and we often get asked for a breakdown if we haven't already sent one.