Paying lawyers in advance?
Discussion
Breadvan72 said:
Tell me about it, but if we complain the solicitors just remind us that there are other barristers.
Must be why we tend to get our pick.Fee notes get paid within 48 hours of arrival if funds held on account.
Pay your suppliers properly and in good time and when the brown stuff arrives they are much more willing to help you out.
Red 4 said:
Breadvan72 said:
I reckon that for every £100 that I bill, after expenses and tax I get £35 ish.
Fag packet calculation ...£35 x 40 hour week = £1400
Let's assume you work 45 weeks per year, what with being self employed n'all ...
£63k p.a. net = cica £95k p.a.
Not bad but then again not great - especially if you live in Laaaandaaan. I know many people who get much more without the qualifications required to be a Barrister.
Edited by Red 4 on Saturday 29th March 18:35
Correct. Like most lawyers, I have to spend time keeping up to date, training people, recruiting people, going to internal meetings, schmoozing, writing talks, giving talks, updating my chapter in a law book that comes out in a new edition every few years, shooting the breeze with colleagues (as well as maintaining collegiality, this can lead to useful discoveries about things that are happening in the law that I might otherwise miss); and even when working on a case I can't always bill every hour that I spend on it. If I think that I have spent too long on something, I bill the client for fewer hours than I actually spent, especially if I like the client and/or its a regular client.
Nasty clients may well get billed for every nanosecond spent even thinking about their horrid case. The Government counts as a nasty client (regardless of who is in power, and it pays rubbish rates, well below commercial rates, so it gets billed for the full time spent.
I also do a fair chunk of pro bono work, and that can take a fair chunk of time.
Solicitors do all the above plus line management and firm management, and lots and lots of client relationship building and maintenance.
Nasty clients may well get billed for every nanosecond spent even thinking about their horrid case. The Government counts as a nasty client (regardless of who is in power, and it pays rubbish rates, well below commercial rates, so it gets billed for the full time spent.
I also do a fair chunk of pro bono work, and that can take a fair chunk of time.
Solicitors do all the above plus line management and firm management, and lots and lots of client relationship building and maintenance.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 31st March 16:14
Breadvan72 said:
It is standard for solicitors to seek money on account. Some of the money may be for counsel's fees, which the solicitors then sit on for three to six months after the barrister does the work before paying him or her.
I have always believed that most barristers are so well off that they don't bother to send a fee note until six months after the event. That's how it seems at the writing the cheque end of the chain anyway .....Breadvan72 said:
There is nothing to stop you ringing up and asking for a bill. I do that with my garage.
If it is anything like mine then you'll still be waiting for it...Gave up asking for a final bill for some work they did nearly 3 years ago - it had got to the point where I made them take £1k on account off me as in my head it was at least that - and now am about to stop asking them for a final figure for the turbo rebuild/chip/spanner check they did for me last year that they took my old golf in p/x for with me knowing that there would be a little more to pay.
Lovely people. Great work. Not great office admin
I once knew a Greek bloke in a shed in Hackney who would practically rebuild my Triumph Vitesse if I popped it in to him to have a look at the carbs and weld up the back end, and when I asked him how much he would shrug and say "call it fifty quid, innit?".
Last year, the two Johns in Corsica Street, Highbury, fixed up two old cars for me, sorting out some difficult problems that required specialist swearing skills. I had to chase them for the bill for six weeks, which finally came out at £220, and they apologised it was so high, but they had to buy a new battery. Last week some dudes at a local village garage (Tiddington, Oxon) practically rebuilt the exhaust on my Lancia HPE Volumex and charged me 100 quid for it. These guys are gold dust if you can find them.
Last year, the two Johns in Corsica Street, Highbury, fixed up two old cars for me, sorting out some difficult problems that required specialist swearing skills. I had to chase them for the bill for six weeks, which finally came out at £220, and they apologised it was so high, but they had to buy a new battery. Last week some dudes at a local village garage (Tiddington, Oxon) practically rebuilt the exhaust on my Lancia HPE Volumex and charged me 100 quid for it. These guys are gold dust if you can find them.
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