It is sometimes wrongly said that consulting a lawyer is too expensive. The lawyer is therefore sometimes considered a solution of last resort. However, the lawyer should not be reduced to the role of “legal emergency specialist”. In an information society where advice, good or bad, proliferates, and where legal advice sites provided by non-lawyers (called “legal pirates”) abound, only lawyers are able to advise you and to help you act in legal matters, with complete confidentiality and ethics .
Find out everything about how much a lawyer costs
The idea is sometimes conveyed that a lawyer is expensive, to the extent that access to the profession requires years of advanced intellectual and technical studies and the obtaining of certified skills.
The objective reality of the facts in terms of cost tends rather to demonstrate the opposite, because lawyer consultation prices are rarely higher than those charged by specialist doctors of equal scope.
For a consultation with a lawyer in an office lasting around thirty minutes, count on between 50 and 150 euros on average, an average cost comparable to the specialist doctor who keeps you in consultation for around fifteen minutes.
Also note that in certain branches of law, it happens that lawyers offer the first consultation at their firm (free lawyer consultation).
On Avocat.fr, you can contact lawyers whose rates are more or less high (they vary depending on the field of activity, the reputation of the firm, the expertise, etc.). The choice of your lawyer should not be based solely on fees: depending on the nature of your problem, it is sometimes preferable to choose a lawyer with all the characteristics that you consider to be key in defending your interests, even if the cost is higher. Nevertheless, in order to facilitate access to the law, lawyers have imagined innovative solutions on Avocat.fr with simple, transparent and accessible pricing for the first levels of support: from €20 for a telephone consultation of around ten minutes with a lawyer, from€50 for a consultation in a law firm near you, from €15 for a written legal question answered by a lawyer.
Consulting a lawyer often avoids very costly mistakes
This accessibility of lawyers allows individuals and entrepreneurs to anticipate and avoid errors whose legal consequences can be serious. There is in fact a real “hidden cost” linked to not being advised and defended by a lawyer… a cost that most of those who have made this choice pay tenfold later! Indeed, a large number of our actions in our personal and professional lives actually constitute legal acts, conventions and contracts, which by nature therefore have legal consequences whose financial, patrimonial and human implications can be extremely serious.
How much can it cost to have signed a contract without having first been informed and advised on the resulting legal effects? How much can it cost to give a guarantee, a surety, a deposit, without being aware of what you are committing to, and for how long? Depending on the matrimonial regime or the type of civil partnership, what will I be committed to if I divorce or if the civil partnership breaks down? How much can a poorly drafted clause in a commercial contract cost my company? What are the implications of an association in a commercial company?
In practice, the examples are legion: the added value of the lawyer will therefore be to enlighten you, optimize your interests, and guarantee your legal security . On this last point, let us also note that by consulting a lawyer, you are covered, even in the event of a breach on their part: all lawyers have in fact taken out professional liability insurance which allows them to compensate their clients in these cases. of figure.
Much more than a simple “litigator” or a “law emergency doctor” who defends you in court when you face a difficulty, the lawyer is to law, what the doctor is to health: an advisor and a partner of confidence, which helps you to prevent and anticipate. The legal advice that will be provided to you will allow you to fully analyze and evaluate the legal issues of your case, as well as its financial implications and the advisability or not of initiating proceedings (which can be long and costly) . When you have a doubt or a health problem, you consult a doctor. Do the same in legal matters when you have a doubt, a question, a problem, a dispute, a document to draft: have the “lawyer reflex”, consult a lawyer (by meeting himat his office near you , or remotely by telephone , or by written question .
The fee agreement: the pact of trust between the lawyer and his client
After the first consultation, when the client mandates the lawyer to undertake a certain number of actions (whether formalities, drafting a contract, an assignment, a negotiation, a defense strategy….), the lawyer will propose to his client a fee agreement : this is a contract which allows the terms of fixing the cost of the service to be fixed in writing. This agreement, which can be seen as a quote signed by both parties, allows the client to know how much their lawyer will cost, with complete clarity and transparency. This agreement can be based on four methods of setting fees: