Our cost to you can be minimised with appropriate preparation on your part. We have provided some free information in Getting Started.

Initial enquiries and instructions can be made by email, telephone or fax, but personal contact is often essential in many cases to ensure that we understand your problem and that you understand the range of options available to you in solving the problem.

If we are to act in court on your behalf as a plaintiff or defendant, you should be aware that many courts, including criminal courts and the Family Court, The Magistrates Courts and Workers' Compensation Tribunals, do not award costs under many circumstances.

Some courts, such as the District Court, Supreme Court, Federal Court and High Court often allow costs to the successful party but these may only cover 50% or less of your actual costs.

You may not receive payment even if there is an order for costs against the other party if the person or company does not have sufficient funds to pay you.

We do not accept instructions on a "no-win-no-fee" basis, which means that irrespective of whether you win or lose your case and regardless of whether or not you recover any costs from other parties to the litigation, you will have to pay our legal fees.

In certain instances we will undertake a case on the basis of only recovering our fees after we have received funds from the other side. You will still have to pay us out of pocket expenses.

We also have access to Litigation Funding Programs which are legal in some instances. This means your costs are paid whether or not you are successful. In return if you are successful a percentage fee usually is paid to the Litigation funders.

Whenever we agree to act for you, we may ask that you enter into a costs agreement with us. The costs agreement will vary what is set out in the scale of costs. You should read through the scale of costs that applies to your matter first so you can compare it to our fees. Click on the links below to download the relevant scale.

1. Legal Practitioners (District Court Appeals) (Contentious Business Determination 2008 
   

2. Legal Practitioners (Magistrates Court) (Civil Jurisdiction) Determination 2008
   

3. Legal Practitioners (Magistrates Court) (Criminal Jurisdiction) Determination 2008
   

4. Legal Practitioners (State Administrative Tribunal) Determination 2008
   

5. Legal Practitioners (Supreme Court) (Contentious Business) Determination 2008
   

   
   

For more information go to www.legalcosts.wa.gov.au

We usually charge an hourly rate for legal work as follows:

1. Principal: $400
   

2. Senior Solicitor: $350
   

3. Junior Solicitor: $325
   

4. Paralegal / Article Clerk: $250
   (plus GST)
   
   For work in some areas such as Wills and Powers of Attorney we charge fixed fees excluding GST as follows:
   

1. Wills: $350 (for simple wills, otherwise more complex wills charged by time)
   

2. Power of Attorney: $250