Wondering what lawyer costs might add up for your case? This article will walk you through what the standard hourly prices are for lawyers in Australia. To understand more about what types of fees arise when hiring a lawyer, read this guide.
Different Factors
There are a variety of factors that affect what the total amount of standard lawyer costs are.
Types of lawyers
First of all, it should be noted that there are different kinds of lawyers that you may seek assistance from. Depending on who you hire will largely affect the ultimate lawyer cost. For example, solicitors and barristers, though they seem like similar legal roles in lay man terms, are two remarkably different roles.
Solicitors: They work behind the scenes preparing your case before appearing in court. Often, they will still appear at court and continually act as a liaison with the barrister.
Barristers: They use oral advocacy to represent your case in a court room setting. Cross-examination is another skill which they would familiar with, and use to strengthen your case.
Tier of firm
The higher the level of firm tier, the higher the lawyer cost will be. In sydney, high-level law firms would include names like Allens, Ashurst, Clayton Utz, Herbert Smith Freehills, King & Wood Mallesons and Minter Ellison (commonly known as the “Big 6”). Mid-tier law firms would include Hall & Wilcox, HWL Ebsworth, Johnson Winter & Slattery, Maddocks, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Norton Rose Fullbright and Thomson Geer.
For more information learning about the different levels of law firm, visit here.
Location
A lawyer based in rural Australia may charge at a comparatively lower fee than lawyers in suburban or city regions.
Type of work
Lawyers can be hired to work on a myriad of tasks which are necessary to provide proper legal support for a client. Because of this, costs may range especially when lawyers can be hired to work on a whole range of tasks, from court advocacy, to preparatory research, to legal documentation work.
This General Protections Handbook, applying the Fair Work Regulations, puts forward a “schedule of costs” outlining appropriate cost rates for common legal services.
Standard Hourly Prices for Solicitors
Large Firm
The standard cost to hire a Partner is $800/hour.
Special Counsel: $600/hour
Senior Associate: $500/hour
Junior Lawyer: $300/ hour
Law Clerk: $180/hour
Small Firm
The standard cost to hire a Senior Solicitor is $300/hour.
Junior Solicitor = $200/hour
Law Clerk = $120/hour
Standard Price per hour for Barristers
The standard cost to hire a QC/SC is $1,000/hour.
(Note that QC/SCs are high-level barristers or “silks”, categorised as Queen’s Counsel or Senior Counsel, hence have a higher fee)
Senior Barrister = $600/hour
Junior Barrister = $400/hour
Court Proceedings
The standard cost to hire a QC/SC specifically for court proceedings would be $8,000/day.
Senior Barrister = $5,000/day
Junior Barrister = $3,000/day
Task-prescribed lawyer cost rates
In some situations, the matter of the legal issue will have specific fee structures since these have been pre-established by the government or the agency facilitating legal aid work. The standard lawyer costs structure for specific tasks may include fees as follows:
Fee on Brief
Junior Counsel = $1,200-4,800
Senior Counsel = $1,950-7,200
Appearance at hearing (includes conference fee)
Junior Counsel = $850-3,950/day
Senior Counsel = $1,950-6,000/day
Interlocutory Applications
Motion/Interlocutory hearing
Hourly rates can vary because of the differing durations of hearing.:
Short hearing (<2 hours)
Junior Counsel $350-2,000
Senior Counsel $650-3,900
Long hearing (>2 hours)
Junior Counsel $400-3,000
Senior Counsel $800-6,000
Miscellaneous tasks
There are also standard lawyer costs paid for miscellaneous tasks such as settling applications, statements of claim and affidavits.
Junior Counsel = $250-500
Senior Counsel = $400-700
Where do I start?
Lawpath provides an easy and accessible way to contact lawyers with expertise across a range of different legal areas, whether it be employment law, consumer law or even property law. When looking to hire a lawyer, be aware and realistic about expected rates of standard hourly lawyer costs.
If you are interested in seeking legal advice through online means, then please visit our platform: the Lawyer Marketplace.
