Can a lawyer ever save you money?

The short answer to that questions is – YES! Now, I can hear some of you reading that statement and promptly spitting out your tea. I know amongst my non lawyer friends this notion would indeed be met with laughter. But I would argue that a competent lawyer can and will save you money in the long term.

In my experience, many clients are reluctant to make that first call to a solicitor’s office. They are terrified that from that first moment of instruction, the bill will start mounting and soon become an irreversible avalanche of costs leaving them broke and sorry they ever called in the first place. This is not and should not, however, be the case. A capable lawyer will quickly be able to weed out the issues and should follow this up with appropriate and, most importantly, realistic advice. It is no good placating a client and telling them that everything will be achieved on their terms, if in fact that is not likely. In my view it is much more important to provide a client with a likely outcome as well as a worst-case scenario. Once a client understands this, I find that more often than not this will then give way to more realistic expectations and ultimately less emotional turmoil. Indeed, my role as solicitor is to not encourage a client to embark upon an emotional rollercoaster of “he said, she said”, as this is where money will be wasted. Rather, it is to guide them to stick to the key issues and to always keep in mind ‘what is an achievable goal’. It is not to waste time and money on anything superfluous to that.

Here at Hine Downing, we understand that divorce is a scary and vulnerable time in our client’s lives and that compassion and understanding is essential. Our role is to provide competent and thorough legal advice, to guide our clients smoothly through the turbulence that can ensue following separation and importantly, ensure that their precious funds and resources are not wasted but rather applied to the crux of the issues. This, in turn, benefits our clients and ensures that settlement is often reached quickly and away from the expensive court process.

– Family law Solicitor, Chanelle Kimber