After 16 years in Manila and a year in Europe, I moved back to Dumaguete City in 2014 and started my own law firm. One of the first things that I did was to get a copy of my Chapter’s schedule of minimum rates for legal services. This is IBP Resolution 2013-04, and I have posted this on my website, dumaguetelawyer.com.
Realistically, I charge my Manila clients according to Manila rates, and I charge my Dumaguete clients significantly lower amounts.
Rate transparency is one of my advocacies, not just for law practice, but also for all professions. It is something that should be discussed, even by the Supreme Court.
Rate anxiety is, after all, a very real thing that prevents people from getting good legal advice. Many clients who visit me have been carrying their problems for so many years simply because they do not have lawyer-friends, and/or they have always thought that legal advice is expensive.
A small business owner client of mine was so surprised (and happy) that for her business, she only needs to pay P3,000/month as retainer fee, and she can get on-call legal advice, legal documents, and free notarization.
If only the rates are published everywhere, she would have gotten a lawyer years ago, he told me.
Legal advice is and should be expensive. For example, the minimum rate of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines is P1,000 for the first hour of consultation, and P500 for every hour after that.
However, it is not that expensive considering the peace of mind that good legal advice brings.
One of my clients said I should write what she told me when she discovered that rate: “Sus, mas mahal pa diay magpa-rebond ug buhok, Attorney.” (It’s more expensive to have my hair rebonded, Attorney!)
Even notarial fees are standardized by our IBP chapter. It’s P200 for most documents, including loan documents. For deeds of sale, it’s P2,000 or three percent of the fair market value of the property, whichever is higher. The fair market value is not the selling price. I always ask for the tax declaration of sold properties because I look at the market value there, and this number is always significantly lower than the selling price–50 percent or more lower than the selling price. That’s a big difference.
Take for example a Deed of Sale for P3,000,000. If the notarial fee is based on the selling price, that would be P90,000.00! Wouldn’t that be oppressive?
Rate transparency and the practice of setting minimum rates also bring a certain level of decency and dignity to the practice of law by not making legal services akin to a public bidding: where you have to drive down your price to win a client.
The practice of law is not a business — a textbook principle that even freshman students in law know.
However, the practice of law is also not easy. I seldom hear patients question doctors’ fees.
If we remain transparent about our fees, and not charge oppressive ones, maybe society will reach a point where clients, like patients, will no longer question the amounts we charge.
For the non-lawyers, it is ok to call the lawyer’s office first. Or go to their website, if they have one. It’s ok to ask for their rates, first. If you do that for other services, legal services should not be an exception.
____________________________________
Golda S. Benjamin graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law, and is a proud member of SUHS Batch 97. She loves practicing in Dumaguete because when the weather is good, she can bike to work.
For comments, you may reach her through her website, www. dumaguetelawyer.com
