New Zealand Law Society - How the Standards Committees assess complaints about fees
A lawyer’s fees must be fair and reasonable for the services provided. If you have concerns about the fees, talk to your lawyer or law firm first. They can explain their fees in more detail or help resolve the matter.
If you’re not satisfied with your lawyer’s response after speaking to them, you may consider making a complaint to the Lawyers Complaints Service. Complaints are assessed by Standards Committees with the Lawyers Complaints Service providing administration and support.
The law places some limits on complaints about lawyer's fees. Standards Committees can’t consider complaints about bills that are:
unless ‘special circumstances’ apply.
Examples of special circumstances may include where a lawyer has done no work at all but has billed you, or where multiple bills have been issued over a period of years for a single piece of legal work.
To complain about a bill that is older than two years, or less than $2,000, you will need to explain what ‘special circumstances’ you think apply to your situation.
If the bill you are complaining about was issued before 1 August 2008, a Standards Committee can only consider it if you believe there has been gross overcharging or dishonest overcharging.
When a Standards Committee looks at whether a lawyer’s bill for services is fair and reasonable, some fee factors² considered include:
If a bill is particularly large or complicated, a standards committee may appoint an external cost assessor to consider it. A cost assessor provides a report on whether the bill is fair and reasonable in the circumstances.
Complaints can take between 3-18 months to progress through to a conclusion, depending on how quickly you and the lawyer provide the required information, the complexity of the underlying circumstances, and whether a cost assessor is appointed. More information on complaints process.
What you need to provide
For a Standards Committee to consider your complaint about fees, you’ll need to provide:
- a copy of the bill you’re complaining about
- details of why you’re complaining about the bill
- details for the lawyer or incorporated law firm who is responsible for the bill
- a copy of the Terms of Engagement/Letter of Engagement that you signed
- a copy of any correspondence you’ve had with the lawyer about the bill
- the lawyer’s time records, if you have them
- a copy of any estimate/fee agreement that you were provided with, if applicable
- details of any ‘special circumstances’, if applicable.
A Standards Committee may also request information or documents from the lawyer, such as an itemised bill, time records and/or an explanation of the bill and any discussions they had with you about it.
After considering a complaint about a bill, a standards committee may:
Find out more: Possible complaint outcomes
While lawyers are not allowed to start or continue any action to collect an unpaid bill while a Standards Committee considers a complaint, they are allowed to charge interest on any unpaid bills while the complaint is processed.
Your lawyer may also retain your file until payment is received (subject to any Privacy Act request you may make for your personal information).
Therefore, there are practical reasons why you may choose to pay the bill in full before the due date and make your complaint afterwards.
You can still make a complaint about fees even if you have already paid them. If the fees are determined to be unfair or unreasonable, the lawyer can be required to fully or partially refund you.
Anyone responsible for paying a lawyer’s fees can make a complaint about it. This includes beneficiaries who have an interest in property out of which a trustee, executor or administrator paid a lawyer’s fees.
Yes, you can complain about fees and the conduct or services of the lawyer who is responsible for the fees. It is important that you make this clear so that the Lawyers Complaints Service can ensure all aspects of your complaint are considered by a standards committee.