Legal Counsel
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Hiring a lawyer on retainer is a cost-effective way of getting legal advice. You pay a fixed fee and in return, you receive legal advice within the scope of the retainer.
We work with lots of businesses across Australia on a retainer basis.
In this article, our Director, Farrah Motley, explains the benefits of legal counsel retainers and how they work. Additionally, Farrah shares her experience as a lawyer offering ongoing legal assistance to companies.
Whether it’s worth having a lawyer on retainer will depend on what you need them for. If you have a one-off legal matter, a retainer is not likely to be a good option. However, if you need legal advice regularly, even for just one hour per week, it can be a good choice.
We work with small businesses that use our services one to five hours per week. We also work with large companies that rely on our in house legal team for up to 40 hours per week. This option can be more cost-effective and tailored to specific business needs.
When we work with companies on an ongoing basis, we get to understand their business on a more in-depth basis. We can then ask the right questions and make sound legal judgements by fully understanding their risk profile.
Ad hoc legal services can mean that your legal counsel doesn’t always understand your business. Instead of focusing on the important things to you, they can take a black-and-white approach and often an overly conservative view. This isn’t helpful or a good use of a company’s budget for legal services.
A lawyer’s retainer fee can cover anything that you and your lawyer agree to. When we talk to new clients, we take the time to understand what they need from us. This helps to get a feel for the likely workload and priorities.
Some lawyers may choose to limit the services that they provide under a retainer arrangement. This could be because they are unfamiliar with a specific area of the law. It could also be because the retainer fee does not cover these complex services. A legal retainer may exclude litigation because it often takes a significant amount of time.
You can also expect to pay more if the area of law you need help with is niche. Areas of law that are unique and have fewer lawyers with experience will see you paying more.
We recommend choosing quality over price. A senior lawyer on retainer who can hit the ground running is more likely to benefit your business. On the other hand, if you have simple legal tasks it may be worthwhile choosing a lower-cost, more junior lawyer.
Legal retainer agreements can outline clear inclusions and exclusions under the retainer fee.
Some lawyers don’t offer certain services or the legal services may not be relevant for companies. For example, when we work with engineering consultancy firms, they usually want our retainer to cover:
They will not need legal advice about family law. But they’re more likely to need a lawyer to manage and negotiate contracts and deal with employment law matters.
Farrah has worked as a legal counsel for over ten years. Her clients have been mostly large international companies and working alongside in-house legal teams.
Farrah says:
My personal experience has been a positive one. I’ve built long-lasting relationships with my retainer clients and I know their businesses well. Clients know that they work with a business-oriented law firm, and we base our working relationship on trust.
When I’m negotiating contracts, I understand the risk better and spend more time negotiating high-value points.
And because I work negotiating lots of different contracts, I know what is ‘standard’ or ‘unusual’. I have times when I am negotiating contracts and the other side will tell me ‘everyone has accepted this’. When I’ve actually negotiated the same contract for other clients, so I know this isn’t true.
For clients that I’ve worked with for years, there will be times when the workload is heavier. But then there are months where there is less work. Our clients like a fixed fee legal retainer to know their exact payment, even though the workload varies.
All sorts of companies use a retainer lawyer. Our clients range from small businesses with three employees, up to companies with thousands of employees. No company is too small or too large to benefit from a lawyer on retainer.
Companies often spend a significant amount of money on one legal matter because their lawyer charges an hourly rate. Consider hiring a lawyer on retainer to save money on legal fees and lower the cost of your services. You might wish to compare this cost to your company’s annual spend on legal fees.
You might also prefer a more tailored approach, rather than transactional. Lawyers on retainer can get to know your business better than if you use a company just one time and move to the next.
The cost of a monthly lawyer retainer varies. We charge our smallest client $1,000 plus GST per month. This client has infrequent legal requests and a few large contracts each year. Our larger clients may need support full-time and for this, we charge around $22,000 plus GST per month.
Other providers of monthly legal retainers may charge more or less. When hiring a lawyer on retainer, it’s crucial to choose one with experience relevant to your business needs. High fees are more likely if the lawyer has significant experience, or low fees if they are at a junior level.
A retainer agreement typically keeps the fee fixed regardless of any variations in workload. This provides predictable legal costs, allowing you to budget more effectively despite fluctuations in the amount of legal work.
Not all retainer agreements require advance payments or trust accounts. We don’t have a trust account or require an advance payment retainer.
We charge a flat fee on a monthly basis, simplifying the payment process. This also removes the administrative burden on the client required in trust money procedures.
We provide legal advice to business and individuals across Australia, no matter which State or Territory you are located. Our easy-to-access, online legal services mean that you can talk to our lawyers wherever you are, at a time that suits you.
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