Improving Legal Services
Legal Watch Australia provides a rating system for lawyers based on their costs management performance.
The Cost Management Index (CMI) is designed to help you, the client, select the law firm with a favourable client costs management history. The CMI comprises of data collected from costs disputes and presented by way of a numerical score.
Algorithm
Legal Watch Australia collects data comprising of the number of cost assessment applications in the Supreme Court relating to the law firm/practitioner, and their outcomes.
Accountability
We hope this system will encourage greater accountability within the legal profession thereby improving the billing culture and client communication.
The formal Cost Assessment process under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) is a very important tool in rectifying wrongdoing by solicitors, however, the results only satisfy a specific client, and fail to alert the broader community to solicitors with a tendency to regularly overcharge, or, conversely, to highlight the excellent records or some practitioners.
An unscrupulous solicitor may have very little to lose by overcharging (ie, charging more than a client expected) if, at least some of the time, the Assessment reduction still leaves the total bill in excess of the estimate.Currently, there is no system to publish that data in any discernible and practical way.
The formal Cost Assessment process under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) is a very important tool in rectifying wrongdoing by solicitors, however, the results only satisfy a specific client, and fail to alert the broader community to solicitors with a tendency to regularly overcharge, or, conversely, to highlight the excellent records or some practitioners.
An unscrupulous solicitor may have very little to lose by overcharging (ie, charging more than a client expected) if, at least some of the time, the Assessment reduction still leaves the total bill in excess of the estimate.Currently, there is no system to publish that data in any discernible and practical way.
The primary criteria for the CMI rating is successful client cost management, with costs disputes, as reflected by a disproportionate level of Cost Assessment Applications, being an indicator of adverse client relations, poor communication and negative workplace culture.
By presenting costs dispute data in the public domain by way of a CMI score, the public is better informed, whilst legal services will be improved through greater public accountability.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
-George Herbert 1593- 1633
Community Perception
There is dissatisfaction within the community regarding solicitor billing practices. In particular, a perception exists that certain solicitors overcharge for work and fail to disclose estimate increases in a timely manner, or at all. This issue constitutes the majority of complaints to the Office of the Legal Commissioner in Australia.