Client bills

Client bills

There are no specific statutory or regulatory requirements about the form and content of a law firm’s final client bill. This does not mean you can draft your bill in whatever form you please. You need to ensure that, if the bill is unpaid, you can take action to recover your costs. Generally, this means complying with various requirements in the Solicitors Act 1974 (SA 1974).

See Practice Note: Final client bill, Final client bill—checklist and Precedent: Final client bill wording.

When can you render a final bill

Final bills can be rendered:

•
when the client has agreed to or asked for a final bill
•
at conclusion of the matter
•
on termination of the retainer
•
on an order made by the High Court for the delivery by a solicitor of a bill of costs

Amount of your bill

There is very little prescribed about how much you can charge your client and usually this will be a matter of contract law, having been agreed in your client care letter and/or terms of business.

You are subject to

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