For matters under the Family Law Act
Family Law matters, which are matters under the Family Law Act, will be charged on the basis of a hourly rate plus GST. The hour is comprised of 60 units (representing 60 minutes).
Each unit or minute is charged. This is different from some legal firms where the fee is comprised of 1 unit with 1 unit up to 6 minutes. In that system, if a lawyer reads an email with 8 lines and takes 3 minutes to read the email, the client will be charged 1 unit. At Pittwater Family Lawyers, if a lawyer reads an email with 8 lines and takes 3 minutes to read the email, the client will only be charged for 3 minutes.
The charge out rate for Kathy Chase of Pittwater Family Lawyers when acting on family law matters is approximately 50% less than the charge out rates for family lawyers with the same experience as Pittwater Family Lawyers has low overheads, with the benefit of the saving on overheads passed on to clients.
For matters not under the Family Law Act
For matters not under the Family Law Act, including Wills, Probate, Power of Attorneys, Guardianship, sale and purchase of property, and leases, the rates will be a set rate.
For family provision matters under the Succession Act, the rate is a time based rate. These rates will be discussed with clients when a client first contacts Pittwater Family Lawyers.