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Lawyers

You may need a lawyer to help you if:

you have a dispute with a person or organisation that you can’t resolve
you have been charged with a criminal offence
you don’t know enough about the law related to a certain situation (such as drawing up a complicated Will, buying or selling property, or business matters).

If you decide you need a lawyer, you can ask the lawyer to do part or all of your legal work. The lawyer will charge you for this work. If you can’t afford to pay a lawyer you may be able to get legal assistance from Victoria Legal Aid or another scheme.

Remember that your lawyer can only act on the basis of your instructions.

You can accept or reject your lawyer's advice. If you're unhappy with your lawyer's advice you can see another lawyer. You will be charged for any work the first lawyer has already done for you.

Finding a lawyer

The Law Institute of Victoria has a list of lawyers who specialise in a number of areas, including criminal law, family law, environmental law, town planning and local government law, income tax law, commercial tenancy, business, property, wills and estates, mediation, commercial litigation, personal injury and immigration law. See the Law Institute’s Accredited Specialists Directory (link below) for details.

The Law Institute Referral Service (link below) can also provide referrals to any general or specialist lawyer. The first 30-minute Referral Service consultation is free.

Costs

You should get a quote for costs before instructing a lawyer to act for you. Always make sure you ask the lawyer:

if the first appointment is free or discounted
what and when you will have to pay.

The law says that lawyers must provide detailed information in writing about costs to the client prior to the lawyer being engaged (a 'costs agreement'), and further information about extra costs when the lawyer's services have been engaged.

A lawyer's bill will be shown in two parts: professional costs and disbursements. Disbursements are expenses your lawyer has to pay for you, such as court filing fees, title office fees, barrister’s fees or stamp duty.

Always ask the lawyer:

to explain any costs agreement offered to you
to give you a copy of the pamphlet that explains the rules about legal costs
if they will help you apply for legal aid.

Read the costs agreement carefully. You may want to get some legal advice before signing the costs agreement.

Disputes about legal costs

If you think a bill for legal costs is too high, ask the lawyer to give you an itemised bill detailing the services for which professional costs are claimed, all disbursements, and the amount charged for each item (if they have not already done this). This is known as a bill in 'taxable form'.

If you still believe that the charges are too high and the lawyer will not negotiate, you can complain to the Legal Services Commissioner (LSC) (link below). The LSC can only handle complaints for costs less than $25,000.

Complaints about costs are subject to strict time limits. You only have 28 days after you get your bill to complain about costs in cases that involve the Family Court In most other cases you have 60 days from the date the bill was payable in which to dispute those costs. If you have requested an itemised bill you only have 30 days from the date it was issued to dispute those costs. Even if you have already paid the bill, you can complain within this time.

In most cases, if you have not paid the bill in full, you must pay any outstanding amount to the LSC before it can handle your complaint. You must pay this amount within 28 days of the date of making your complaint.

The LSC cannot handle complaints about your bill if it involves proceedings in Family Court. This includes a state court that is hearing Family Court matters. Your family lawyer has to give you a Costs Notice brochure (link below) if you ask them to represent you.

Community legal centres

Community legal centres (CLCs) provide a range of legal services, either in a specialised area of the law or to their local community. Services include legal information, advice, ongoing legal assistance and legal education.

Specialist centres focus on particular groups with specific needs, such as women, Indigenous people or young people, or on particular areas of law, including disability, mental health, employment, social security, consumer and tenancy (housing) law.

CLCs all operate differently: all provide initial advice and assistance with ongoing legal services according to each centre’s guidelines. There are some areas of law that CLCs do not deal with, such as conveyancing, taxation and commercial disputes.

Legal advice is given by qualified solicitors either by appointment, at drop-in clinics at specific times, or a mix of both – check with the CLC before you go. Most CLC services are free.

See the Community Law website (link below) for more information and CLC contact details.