It should come as no surprise that lawyers can be expensive. Fees for lawyers can vary according to the area of law, the lawyer’s experience, and often the size and location of the law firm.
In a recent ABC News article, NSW solicitor Kayte Lewis indicated that settling a Family Court matter in litigation would likely cost $100,000. In the writers experience, this can often be on the conservative side.
What are you getting for your money?
Retaining a solicitor, and often a barrister, in family law matters provides a client with a wealth of experience at their disposal. Solicitors will draft correspondence, settle applications and attend to some of the advocacy; whereas Barristers will often be engaged to conduct interim or final hearings.
Ultimately, however, your legal representation are placing your best interests in their most persuasive form to an arbiter (the judge), who will decide the outcome of the dispute. This can result in a decision which leaves both parties dissatisfied, and in some cases, commence an appeal. More money.
Why mediate?
Mediation, however, provides parties the ability to control the ultimate outcome at a fraction of what it would cost to litigate. In the same ABC News article, Kayte Lewis identified typical mediation costs as being approximately $20,000. From a purely financial standpoint, that alone is an approximate 80% saving to reach a settlement that you have control over.
Queensland Mediator make available our mediation pricing, the only further cost is the inclusion of an appropriate facility to mediate within (usually between $500-$1,000 per day). Parties do not have to be legally represented at a mediation, but if they choose to, this is often the difference in reaching Ms Lewis’s approximation.
So for a cost effective alternative dispute process, consider contacting Queensland Mediator to discuss your dispute resolution options.
- Nathan Laing, Nationally Accredited Mediator and Barrister.