Fees and how engagement works

Fees are agreed in writing before work begins, stage by stage. Nobody should be uncertain what a case will cost them or what happens if it settles early.

The first consultation

A first consultation runs about an hour and covers what your situation actually is in legal terms: which proceedings apply, which court, what has to be proved, what the other side is likely to do, and what the realistic range of outcomes is. It is charged as a fixed fee, stated when the appointment is made.

Bring whatever exists: the marriage certificate, any notice sent or received, papers in any pending case, income documents, and a written chronology of dates. A consultation with documents is worth several without them.

How fees are structured

Matrimonial matters are quoted in one of three ways, depending on what the matter is:

• Fixed fee for a defined piece of work — drafting a settlement deed, a legal notice, a reply, a registration application, or a single application. You know the figure before it starts.
• Stage-wise fee for a proceeding — the most common arrangement for a contested matter. The case is divided into stages (drafting and filing; written statement and replication; evidence; final arguments) with a fee for each, so that a matter which settles at mediation does not carry the cost of a trial that never happened.
• Per-appearance fee — used for hearings before other courts, appeals and proceedings taken over part-heard from another advocate.

Whichever applies, it is set out in the engagement letter with what is included and what is not.

Costs that are not our fee

These are payable regardless of who represents you and are billed at actual:

• Court fees on petitions and applications
• Process fees for service of summons and notices, including publication where substituted service is ordered
• Charges for certified copies
• Stamp duty and registration charges where a document requires them
• Travel and, where a matter is at Chandigarh or outside the district, related expenses
• Fees of any expert, translator or investigator engaged with your written approval

Engagement and vakalatnama

An advocate–client relationship begins when an engagement letter is signed and a vakalatnama is executed — not when you send an email, and not when you read this website. The engagement letter records the scope of work, the fee, the schedule of payment and what is excluded.

Anything you tell an advocate in the course of seeking legal advice is protected by section 132 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which corresponds to section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act. That protection applies to a consultation whether or not you go on to instruct the chambers.

Ending the engagement

You may discharge the chambers at any stage, and the papers in your file will be returned. Fees for stages already completed remain payable; fees for stages not reached do not. Where a matter is part-heard and a change of advocate requires the court's permission, that will be applied for.