According to Psychology Today it is crucial that you never pay for legal advice by the hour.  People paid by the hour have every incentive to make your case take as long as possible so that it costs you more and they get paid more. Not only is this practice unethical, it means that the representative is acting in their own best interests - rather than yours. According to Dr Rolf Dobelli it is important to, " Forget hourly rates and always negotiate a fixed price in advance."

Almost all of our clients are either on fixed rates or on a no win no fee basis. Our clients know exactly where they stand financially and our rates are proof that we put our clients' interests first.

Employment problems happen all the time. If something has gone wrong the emphasis needs to be on the fast and effective resolution of the issues so that the parties can either put the problems behind them and get on with their working relationship or part on terms that work for both the employer and the employee. Good faith is a requirement in resolving employment problems.

We believe that it is essential that legal costs are not overwhelming. Recent research has revealed that the average cost to an employer of dealing with an employment dispute is $35,000. For some small employers costs of this magnitude can be enough to put them out of business. Given that a run of the mill payout to an employee as a result of an Employment Relations Authority decision is often between $6,000-$12,000 it is also essential for employees that their costs are reasonable. If your costs are more than you will win, or if they are unaffordable, what’s the point? Huge legal costs just add another injustice to the one you have already suffered.

We are often instructed by clients who have been horrified by the costs charged by their previous law firm representatives. In a couple of recent cases, our clients were charged between $1,500-$2,000 for just one letter to the employer. No real work had been done to resolve the dispute and at that rate of charging it seemed likely that the total legal costs for the cases would be around $20,000. Given the sums at stake, and the hardship that these kinds of costs cause,  this is outrageous. We can understand why people think that some lawyers try to spin things out.

We believe in affordable justice. For almost all mediations our clients either pay no win no fee or a maximum fixed rate of $1500. We offer fixed rate representation to both employees and employers. At these rates, employees are likely to receive a reasonable payment out of the process (after our costs) and employers know that their business will not be financially harmed by the level of costs.