Pricing
When it comes to pricing we believe in providing you with options
If you want us to work with you on an hourly basis, we can do that. Or we can give you an estimate before we start work. We will then keep you updated if anything comes up that might affect that estimate.
For businesses and commercial property owners
• If you want price certainty up front, we can give you a quote for a fixed fee before we start work.
• You might prefer hourly rates, but for budgeting purposes you need to cap it.
• We can provide you with hybrid options, for example a fixed fee for a particular stage of the project/transaction, with hourly rates thereafter.
• We price our work to fit the specifics of what you want. We won’t deliver a Rolls-Royce if you want a Mini.
• Our credit terms are on the 20th of the month following the date of the invoice.
Buying / selling or refinancing a house
• We use standard fees for buying, selling or refinancing.
• The fees depend on various factors, like whether you need a mortgage, whether a trust is buying/selling the property, whether you need Kiwisaver or need us to look at the LIM report, etc. We can provide a fee estimate to you once we understand your needs before your commit.
• If you are purchasing a property, any due diligence investigations (including but not limited to extensive reviews of the contract, titles, negotiating changes to the contract, advice on OIO matters) are done in addition to our fee estimate on hourly rates. Due diligence investigations can include many factors and it is important for us to establish who will be responsible for what in order to manage costs and expectations.
• Our credit terms are on the 20th of the month following the date of the invoice, unless in the case of most property transactions where there is a specific settlement date, all fees and expenses shall be paid not later than the settlement date.
Trusts / wills / EPAs
• We use standard fees for trust creation, wills and enduring powers of attorney.
• Our invoice will be sent to you when the final documents have been completed by us and sent to you for signing. However if things progress past 3 months from the date you instructed us (unless the delay is caused by us), we will send you an interim invoice for the work done by us to date.
• For other asset planning matters, if you need price certainty we can provide you with a fee estimate or provide you with a range. Alternatively our hourly rates will apply.
• Our credit terms are on the 20th of the month following the date of the invoice.
Our pricing policy also takes into account factors to appropriately determine the value of the legal work.
The NZLS Rules of Professional Conduct requires practitioners to take into account eight criteria when determining a fee, only one of which is the time. We balance these factors to ensure that true value and satisfaction are delivered to our clients.
- the skill, specialised knowledge, and responsibility required
- the importance of the matter to the client and the results achieved
- the urgency and the circumstances in which the business is transacted
- the value or amount of any property or money involved
- the complexity of the matter and the difficulty or novelty of the questions involved
- the number and importance of the documents prepared or perused
- the time and labour expended
- the reasonable costs of running the lawyers practice