A guide to the legal fees and costs for different types of legal services and matters in Trinidad and Tobago.
Introduction to legal fees in Trinidad and Tobago
How much do the best lawyers in Trinidad and Tobago cost? The issue of legal fees is a primary concern for persons seeking to engage attorneys in Trinidad and Tobago. Clients often ask for the costs for lawyer’s fees even before their first consultation. Generally, lawyers in Trinidad and Tobago determine their fees based on the nature and complexity of the legal service they provide which in turn depends on the nature of the client’s problem or issue. In certain instances the amount of legal fees that a lawyer can charge is set by law. Understanding lawyer’s fees is important in helping you choose your next lawyer and in fostering better client-attorney relationships and preventing misunderstandings. This article provides a general overview of the regulations and factors that influence how lawyers set their fees.
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Classifying legal services
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It is useful to firstly classify legal services. Legal fees are best analysed by classifying legal services into two broad categories, those that involve litigation (i.e. the proverbial court battle) and other non-court related services, such as the preparation of deeds of conveyances or contracts. There are some general rules and guidelines that regulate the fee structure for lawyers in Trinidad and Tobago and they are best understood by applying such a classification of legal services. The guidance on legal fees is found in the Legal Profession Act, the Non-Contentious Business Rules made pursuant to the Act and the Practice Direction on the Award of Costs issued by the Supreme Court.
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Summary: classifying legal services into court-related services and non-court related (non-contentious) is necessary to understanding legal fees.
The Legal Profession Act
How it affects Lawyers' fees in Trinidad and Tobago
The Legal Profession Act is the main legislation that governs the practice for lawyers in Trinidad and Tobago. It sets out the qualifications, duties, rights, and obligations of attorneys, as well as the disciplinary procedures and sanctions for misconduct. It also establishes the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago. The Act provides general guidance for lawyers in setting legal fees and contains a schedule of fees that lawyers should charge for certain types of legal services and matters, discussed below as the Non-Contentious Business Rules.
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The Act prohibits an Attorney from charging fees that are unfair or unreasonable. It provides a list of factors that may be considered when determining the fairness and reasonableness of a fee charged by an Attorney-at-law. These are:Â
The time and labour required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved and the skill required to perform the legal service properly.
The likelihood that the acceptance of the particular employment will preclude other employment by the Attorney-at-law.
The fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal services.
The amount, if any, involved.
The time limitations imposed by the client or by the circumstances.
The nature and length of the professional relationship with the client.
The experience, reputation and ability of the Attorney-at-law concerned.
Any scale of fees or recommended guide as to charges prescribed by law or by the Law Association.
Prohibition of referral fees: The Act states that an attorney-at-law shall not accept any fee or reward for merely introducing a client or referring a case or client to another attorney-at-law.
Contingency fee exception: The Act allows an attorney-at-law to charge a contingency fee, which is a fee that depends on the outcome of the case, only in cases of collection of liquidated claims (e.g. debt collection cases seeking a specific sum) with the prior agreement of the client.
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The guidance offered on setting fees is quite general. The main factors are the amount of time involved, complexity of the matter and the urgency and demands placed on the lawyer. Therefore, matters that require immediate action, such as an injunction or where the prompt filing of a matter is needed to avoid the expiration of a limitation period, may justify a larger fee. The nature and complexity of the matter itself would attract different fees, for example a suit involving multi-million dollars for a claim for the infringement of intellectual property rights may attract a higher fee than would a simple uncontested divorce (where both parties are consenting to a decree of divorce). Also, different matters would require more attendances at court than others.
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Summary: The Legal Profession Act prohibits an Attorney from charging fees that are unfair or unreasonable. The Act provides a list of factors to consider in determining the reasonableness and fairness of legal fees.
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The Non-Contentious Business Rules
The Non-Contentious Business Rules are Regulations made under the Act to regulate the fees that lawyers can charge for non-contentious business, which refers to legal services for matters that do not involve litigation or dispute resolution, such as conveyancing (buying and selling land and conducting searches and investigations of title to land), drafting contracts, wills, trusts, deeds, and other documents and applications for probate. The Non-Contentious Business Rules provide a scale of fees that lawyers can charge for different types of non-contentious business, usually based on a percentage of the value of the property involved in the case of conveyancing or the total value of the estate of a deceased person in the case of probate. The scale of fees is specific for each type of work involved. Lawyers cannot exceed the scale. Miscellaneous fees are also provided for preparation of other types of documents, for e.g. Deed Polls (for name changes). For transactions for which no specific provision is made a list of factors to be considered is provided, like that contained in the Act discussed above.
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Summary: The Non-Contentious Business Rules regulates the fees that lawyers can charge for matters such as conveyancing, applications for probate and other non-court related services. A scale of fees is provided usually based on the value of the transaction.
The Practice Direction on the Award of Costs
The Practice Direction on the Award of Costs is a directive issued by the Chief Justice under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act to guide the courts in awarding costs in civil cases. It therefore is not specifically made to advise attorneys on how to set their fees but it has been incorporated by most attorneys as a basis for charging clients as it uses hourly rates that attorneys can easily utilise in their billings.
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Costs refer to the legal expenses incurred by a party in pursuing or defending a legal action, such as lawyers' fees, court fees, filing fees, and witness expenses. There are three bases upon which such costs are determined by the court, namely prescribed (being a percentage of the value of the claim), budgeted (on the application of a party to set a costs budget for the particular action) and assessed by the costs based on the amount of work done. The direction applies to the latter.
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The Practice Direction on the Award of Costs provides a framework for the courts to assess and award costs based on the principles of reasonableness, proportionality, and fairness. The Practice Direction on the Award of Costs also provides a table of costs that the courts can use as a reference in determining the appropriate amount of costs to award at various stages of litigation, interlocutory applications, trials, and appeals.
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The table is based upon the number of years that an attorney has been in practice and is generally used as a basis for fees charged. They refer to Instructing Attorney and Advocate, the modern equivalent for solicitors and barristers (the terms used in England and formerly applied to Trinidad and Tobago). The work done by the former including taking statements from clients and the latter involve more direct work involved in arguing a case before the Court and the review of documents for filing with the court registry.
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Band | Experience | Hourly Rate |
Band A | less than 5 years called to the Bar Instructing Advocate | Â $750.00 $900.00 |
Band B | over 5 years but under 10 years Instructing Advocate | Â $1,200.00 $1,400.00 |
Band C | Over 10 years but less than 20 years Instructing Advocate | Â $1,950.00 $2,300.00 |
Band D | Over 20 years Instructing Advocate | Â $2,600.00 $2,850.00 |
Band E | Senior Counsel | $4,000.00 |
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There is also a separate schedule for refreshers (for additional time involved exceeding the original estimate).
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While attorneys are not bound to charge in accordance with the Guide as they would be by the Non-Contentious business Rules, most attorneys use it or some variation of it for most contentious work as it is a court-derived measure for the award of costs in particular circumstances. It is therefore a useful basis for estimating a lawyer’s fees for litigation. It will also guide you as to the legal fees that lawyers of various years’ experience would charge so you have an idea of how the level of experience that is appropriate or that you can afford.
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Summary: The Practice Direction on the Award of Costs provides a useful table of hourly rates for lawyers based on how long they have been practicing. It is widely used by attorneys in setting their fees.
Other factors affecting lawyers' fees
It should be borne on mind that your initial consultation with a lawyer on a litigious matter will invariably not allow a lawyer to properly assess the amount of time and worked involved from the very beginning of the matter to the end. It will take some time for the full extent of the work involved to be known. This applies whether you are initiating the suit or whether you are a defendant in a suit. This is because the full extent of the work involved becomes apparent as the matter progresses, e.g. the amount and nature of the evidence both parties are relying upon, the number of witnesses, how long the trial is likely to take, any procedural applications and appeals. Therefore, a lawyer will probably only be able to provide a general fee estimate in the early stages of the litigation and will most likely request a retainer that covers the future immediate work, i.e. the next steps required in the matter.
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The parties’ reimbursement for legal fees, if successful at the outcome is term ‘costs’ and will generally be awarded to the successful party, the amount being calculated based on the principles set out above. Costs are for the client unless there is a pre-existing agreement between the client and attorney stating otherwise and do not necessarily equate with the legal fees actually paid as the basis for computation is often different.
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Conclusion
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Lawyers in Trinidad and Tobago charge different legal fees based on the number of years of experience of the attorney, the time involved and the complexity of the cases. In litigation the Practice Direction on the Award of Costs provides useful hourly rates to assist in estimating legal fees for litigation. The Non-Contentious Business Rules sets out the fees for non-litigation legal services such as conveyancing and probate and the fees set out are mandatory and generally based on a percentage of the value of the transaction. It is important to discuss legal fees with your attorney at an early stage but it should be borne in mind that for litigation the full costs will not be known until the matter progresses. In conclusion an attorney’s fees are supposed to be fair and reasonable when compared to the service provided.
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