When Families Fight, Solicitors Lose

The New South Wales Government’s recent announcement that it will pass laws to limit the fees lawyers can charge in contested estate disputes is really ‘much ado about nothing’.

The Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, plans to cap legal fees to an amount that does not exceed the value of the entire claim.  In that way the lawyers can take the whole estate but not more than that.  Phew, what a relief that must be to clients.

Mr Hatzistergos says there have been an increasing number of cases in New South Wales where the value of a person's inheritance is lost to legal costs, probably because of an increase in the number of estates being challenged as a consequence of lawyer advertising.

The Law Society President Hugh Macken has welcomed the proposed overhaul and says legal fees often skyrocket in very nasty family feuds.

Lawyers have a duty to inform their clients of the likely costs of litigation, including that those costs might exceed the value of the estate.  It is the client’s responsibility to understand that and then make a decision as to whether or not to proceed.  It is hard to be too sympathetic if a vindictive client decides to go ahead with that knowledge and then complains when things go against them.