POSSIBLE FEES STRUCTURE BY A MODERATE LAWYER IN DELHI, INDIA

Fee Structure of Lawyers in New Delhi

______________________________________________

When a person is in some legal difficulties, the first question which comes to his mind as to how much he has to spend for a legal battle or for any legal services in India? Possibly I would be in a higher or a little lower side specifying the schedule of fees being charged by the lawyers to the individuals while handling their litigations and other legal works in Delhi as has been given in the specimen schedule of fees. As a matter of fact the lawyers in Delhi possibly are much costlier than the lawyers practicing in any other parts of India. Be it is litigation or any other legal services, definitely the kind of legal exposure the Delhi lawyers used to have are better than that of the lawyers practicing in the rest part of India. Possibly that is the reason why the lawyers do charge a decent amount for handling any case or providing their legal services in Delhi. Similarly the kind of services one used to get from the lawyers of Delhi is better than their counter parts in India.

One may land in to trouble in case he would not reach to a proper and/or a decent lawyer. Litigation is just like any other battle, on which one should not compromise. So is the case of taking the risk of any legal services from a novice one or trying on his own. As all of us know little knowledge is dangerous, therefore, it would not be advisable to try on their own rather than to consult if not the best ones at least the moderate ones, for which one would definitely not land in to the future troubles.

Finally I would say while consulting to any lawyers in India it is always better to have a discussion thoroughly about the schedule of fees of that particular lawyer. Lawyers some times used to charge in lump sum and some times through schedule of fees. Some of the lawyers used to hike their schedule of fees annually and / or even quarterly and even from the case to case basis. Hike in the fees varies in accordance with the demand on that particular lawyer.

Often one would also find bargaining in the fees by any litigants with their lawyers. Even though one would not find the same with a moderate lawyer normally; who used to have fixed schedule of fees. Personally I have a feeling that bargaining with the fees structure by the individuals sometimes comes with a tag of bargaining with the legal services sought to be taken from that lawyer.

SPECIMEN SCHEDULE OF FEES BEING CHARGED BY THE LAWYERS IN DELHI, INDIA

TABLE OF FEES

Dist. Court / High Court/ Supreme Court

Tribunal/ Forum Commissions

· Fees for miscellaneous appearance in court : Rs 4,100/- Rs 12,500/- Rs 18,000/-

· Fees for argument in court : Rs 7,000/- Rs 30,000/- Rs 45,000/-

· Fees for leading evidence : Rs 10,500/- Rs 40,000/-

· Fees for appearance in out station matter : Rs 15,000/- Rs 50,000/-

· Arbitration / Comm. of enquiry etc. (level): Rs.7,500/- Rs.35,000/- Rs.50,000/-

· Drafting misc.application/reply/rejoinder : Rs 10,000/- Rs 18,000/- Rs. 25,000/-

· Drafting petition/ reply/rejoinder : Rs 15,000/- Rs25,000/- Rs. 40,000/-

· Legal notice/ reply/rejoinder : Rs 5,000/- Rs 7,500/-

· Process fees : Rs 500/- Rs 1,000/- Rs 1,500/-

· Photocopy charges per page : Rs 1/-

· Typing per page : Rs 20/-

· Notary / O.C. attestation (per document) : Rs.500/-

· Urgent filing / listing charges : 10%

· Clarkage : 5% 5% 10%

· Junior Fees : 25% 25% 40%

· Designated senior counsels fees : As per actual and their bills

· Registration of marriage : Rs 15,000/-

· Registration of society, firm, company : Rs 25,000/-

· Registration of sales tax, service tax number : Rs.17,000/-

· Permanent account number : Rs. 2,500/-

· Income tax return for individuals : Rs. 3,500/-

· Documentation : Rs. 2,000/-*

· Title search of any property. : Rs.25,000/-

· Title search with non-encumbrance certificate: Rs.30,000/-

· Drafting agreements, deeds (lease, sale,

mortgage, conveyance, gift, partnership, etc.)

power of attorney, will, Indemnity Bond etc. : Rs.10,000/- ONWARDS

· Joint venture agreement, collaboration,

franchise and other business agreements. : Rs.30,000/- ONWARDS

· Conference / consultation charge per hour : Rs.10,000/-

· International conference / consultation /

representation per hour incl. the travel time : $ 350.00

· Retainer ship fees per month (at least 10 hour

conference time a month) : Rs.25,000/-

· Additional Charges on the retainer ship

(per hour) : Rs. 2,250/-

· Investigation / Commission / Execution

charges per hour. : Rs.10,000/-

· *Any other miscellaneous expenses would be as per actual as may conveyed.

· Equipments charges for investigation and demonstration: As per actual and bills.

· For out station matters, client shall provide the first class conveyance, travel by air in Executive Class / 1st AC train fare, four stars and above hotel accommodation (L/F), miscellaneous incidental expenses.

· The payments against the Memo of fees shall be cleared within a week from the date of receipt of the bills. The TDS certificate must be delivered in the office of the Advocate within four weeks from the date of payment. etc etc.

It is always better for an individual litigant / client to clarify from his lawyer on the above issues bit by bit, so that there would not be any future confusion while pursuing their cases with their lawyers. One must keep in mind that, more the legal services a person / individual / litigant would require from his lawyer, is bound to be charged more by his lawyer.

Often people land up with a mess expecting their lawyer to provide all of his services from the beginning till the end at a fixed price, which normally never happens. At the same time, it is better to understand that what would be the price for each and every individual work so that there would not be any confusion and the payment in accordance with the work done from time to time. This would definitely keep both the litigant and their lawyer bind with each other rather than spoiling cases / litigations on account of silly schedule of fees.

The schedule of fees as has been stated may vary from lawyer to lawyer and is not necessarily being followed by every lawyer, but it has been given to use as a guideline and for the sake of knowledge and clarification on each account / head while engaging a lawyer.