You may think that your lawyer’s hourly rate is excessive, but it’s expensive to become a lawyer and it’s expensive to maintain a practice. Lawyers need to attend university for at least five years, and many lawyers rack up tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars in student debt while they attend school, whether in student loans, a line of credit, and/or debts to family. Law school graduates are required to work as “articling students” for at least one year after graduation and they often get paid as little as $3,000 per month. It takes years to gain the experience needed to charge a high hourly rate as a lawyer.

If your lawyer works at a law firm, the partners in the firm likely retain most of your legal fees. If your lawyer is self-employed, he or she likely has a significant amount of overhead expenses, such as office rent, legal software subscriptions, bookkeeping and accounting expenses, and salaries for support staff; not to mention membership dues and mandatory insurance fees that cost lawyers thousands of dollars each year.

Lawyers also have a lot of unbillable work that needs to get done in a typical day; especially if the lawyer is self-employed and trying to run a business. It isn’t uncommon for a lawyer to work very hard from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm but only bill 2 to 4 hours.

Family law is a particularly grueling field of law that results in high rates of burnout for lawyers. Family lawyers tend to sympathize with their clients and it’s challenging to simply stop working on a client’s file because the client can’t afford their legal fees. Although some lawyers offer discounts, payment plans, or even pro bono assistance, most people who require a family lawyer can expect to incur thousands of dollars in legal fees.

As a “virtual” law firm, we’re able to keep our overhead expenses to a minimum, which allows us to offer significant discounts to our clients while paying our lawyers more for their time than they would at a typical law firm. Contact us today to find out how much you can save with one of our lawyers.

There are several things you can do to help your lawyer keep your legal fees to a minimum. For example:

Unbundled Legal Services / Limited Scope Retainers

When you sign a “limited scope retainer” or request “unbundled legal services” from your lawyer, you and your lawyer will agree to the specific tasks that you want your lawyer’s assistance with, and you will be responsible for any other tasks required in your case, which could save you thousands of dollars in legal fees. See What are Unbundled Legal Services? for more information about unbundled legal services.

One of the most common reasons a client will have high legal fees is due to correspondence between the client and his or her lawyer, whether by email or phone. Many clients feel overwhelmed during their separations, and they turn to their lawyers as a source of support. Although clients should keep their lawyers updated on any new developments in their case, it’s important to try to avoid contacting your lawyer if you simply need to vent. Frustration and anger are common emotions during a separation, but venting is best dealt with through professional counselling, or by asking for support from friends and family members. Although most family lawyers care about their clients and want to help them as much as they can, most of us are not trained to offer psychological advice, and any advice we are able to offer will be expensive.

Before contacting your lawyer, try asking yourself:

(1) Does my lawyer need to know this right now, or can I make note of this information to share with my lawyer at our next meeting?

For example, if your ex is in breach of a court-ordered parenting schedule because he or she is going to be an hour late dropping off the children (again), but you know that the children are safe – make a note of the date, time, and any other important details regarding the incident. Save screenshots of your communication with your ex and save your evidence with helpful file names, such as “2022.12.06 Late Dropping Off.jpg”. This will make it easy for your lawyer to include this information and evidence in an Affidavit later on, if required.

(2) Do I need to make a decision right now, but I’m not sure of the legal ramifications of my options?

For example, if your ex arrives at your home to pick up your children for his or her court-ordered parenting time, but he or she smells like booze and seems to be intoxicated, you may not know what to do. In this case, you should contact your lawyer immediately because there are situations in which denial of parenting time is not wrongful, and in fact; all parents have a duty to protect their children by denying parenting time if placing the children in the other parent’s care would reasonably put them at risk of imminent harm. The other parent may agree to leave and address the issue at a later date, but if a conflict occurs and your lawyer isn’t available, never hesitate to contact the police.

(3) Am I upset and just need to vent?

Family lawyers assist their clients with some of the most intimate aspects of their lives, but our knowledge of the law does not make us experts as counsellors. You might find your lawyer to be very supportive and understanding of your situation, but it’s rarely a good idea to contact your lawyer when your emotions are running high and you just to vent. Your lawyer may not mind offering emotional support, but you should anticipate that your lawyer will be charging you for his or her time.

Divorce is one of the most stressful life events that a person may go through, second only to the death of a loved one. There are many resources available to help separating couples deal with their emotions and grieve the loss of their relationship:

eMentalHealth.ca

CounsellingBC.com

Separating spouses with children should both attend the Parenting After Separation course. If either spouse file an application in Provincial Court regarding parenting arrangements, you may be required to file a copy of your Certificate of Completion: Parenting After Separation Course

Although you may not financially qualify for legal aid, the BC Legal Aid website is filled with useful information to help people navigate the process of divorce and separation: Legal Aid BC
Several of our clients (both men and women) have attended an anger management course through Moose Anger Management, and we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback about their program: Moose Anger Management

Reunification programs may be required if a parent becomes alienated or estranged from their children:
REACH
Family Forward Reunification Therapy and Counselling Program

Lawyers are expensive, but the last thing we want to do is add to our clients’ stress with high legal bills. You might be able to communicate with your lawyer’s assistant to save legal fees, because paralegals and legal assistants usually charge significantly less than your lawyer. Always keep your legal team’s hourly rate in mind before contacting your lawyer’s office. Lawyers (and some support staff) will charge a minimum of .1 hours each time they do anything related to your file, and some lawyers charge a minimum of .2 hours. At $350 per hour, a very brief phone call or email could cost you $35 – $70.00.

Contact us today to find out how we can provide you with exceptional legal support while keeping our fees within your budget.