How much does it cost to provide legal services?
It is hard to say. There is no explicit answer to this question. The lawyer’s fee for legal services provided to clients is regulated by the Decree of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic No. 655/2004 Coll. on the Remuneration and Compensation of Lawyers for the Provision of Legal Services, as amended.
Usually, the following types of remuneration can be agreed with the lawyer:
In most cases, hourly fee is preferred between lawyers and clients. Basically, the hourly fee is determined by the number of hours required to provide legal services to the client; the hourly fee usually varies depending on the particular lawyer and law firm and depends solely on the agreement between the lawyer and the client and on the difficulty and complexity of the legal case.
A standard fee may also be negotiated between the lawyer and the client; this flat-rate remuneration, may be agreed for the providing of legal services for a certain period of time or for an indefinite period, or for the full settlement of a case or set of documents.
Another type of remuneration is the share remuneration, which is determined by the proportion in the value of the case. As a rule, the share remuneration is in the form of a percentage of the value of the case which is the subject of the proceedings before the court or other authority (but not more than 20% of the value of the case).
In addition to this, it is also possible to agree with the client a tariff remuneration in a different amount than the basic tariff remuneration rate.
The basic rate of the tariff remuneration is usually determined according to the tariff value of the case or the type of case or the right and according to the number of legal services performed by the lawyer in the particular case. The basic rate of tariff remuneration for the providing of legal services within the meaning of the Decree for one act of legal service from the tariff value is:
| Value of the case | The amount of one act of legal service |
| up to 165,97 € | 16,60 € |
| over 165,97 € up to 663,88 € | 16,60 € + 1,66 € for every 33,19 € exceeding the amount 165,97 € |
| over 663,88 € up to 6.638,78 € | 41,49 € + 9,96 € for every 331,94 € exceeding the amount 663,88 €, |
| over 6.638,78 € up to 33.193,92 € | 220,74 € + 16,60 € for every 1.659,70 € exceeding the amount 6.638,78 € |
| over 33.193,92 € | 486,29 € + 6,64 € for every 3.319,39 € exceeding the amount 33.193,92 € |
As the act of legal service is understood, for example, to file an action, to deal with a counterparty, represent the client in court etc.
The lawyer shall be also entitled to reimbursement of cash expenses efficiently and demonstrably incurred in connection with the provided legal services, in particular court and other fees, travel and telecommunications expenses and expenses for expert opinions, translations, depreciation or extracts from public registers. The lawyer shall have the right to compensation for the loss of time for acts of legal services provided to the clients in a place, which is not the seat of a lawyer, for the time spent traveling to and from that place and so-called flat rate for each act of legal service.
You will not find the exact amount of a lawyer’s remuneration for the provision of legal services, as it is never known in advance how many acts of legal service will be required to solve a legal issue. Nevertheless, we always strive to provide legal services to our clients as efficiently as possible and with the aim of minimizing costs. If you are interested in price calculation of our legal services, please do not hesitate to contact us.
How much does it cost to draft or review a legal contract/agreement?
There is no clear answer to this. The price for drafting or reviewing the contract depends on the contract (type of contract) or on number of pages of the contract (scope of contract). The drafting of a regular purchase-sale agreement or a deed of gift can cost as little as 100,- EUR. On the contrary, the price for reviewing a simpler agreements ranges from 50, – EUR.
In any case, we recommend having the contract checked by a specialist before signing it. Many times, a properly formulated and balanced contract will help you save considerable money in the event of a dispute.
If you need help with drafting or reviewing a contract, do not hesitate to contact us. In most cases, we will send you a price calculation by return. In addition, we can arrange for a simpler contract to be drafted or reviewed within a few hours in urgent cases.
Do you give free personal consultations?
Basically, no. However, in simpler cases where there is no need for a face-to-face meeting with a lawyer, we can provide you with a free legal answer to your question through Online Legal Advice. Many times, it is possible to solve your problem quickly and easily without the need to visit our office.
Pursuant to Act no. 586/2003 Coll. on Advocacy as amended, a lawyer provides legal services for remuneration and has the right to demand an adequate advance payment for them. In personal consultations, we try to devote our full attention to the client and use the time as effectively as possible in order to find out all the details of the case. In dispute cases, we will in no way force you to go to court, but our priority is always to resolve the case out of court. It is in such cases that your personal presence and cooperation with a lawyer is essential. At a face-to-face meeting, we will provide you with all the information you need and suggest the solutions you need to be free to decide how to continue with your case. In the case of a more complicated and time-consuming case, we always seek a compromise and a way to ensure that client fees are kept as low as possible.