Lawyers have a reputation on being expensive for their work. How they charge can feel like a bit of mystery, but it is normally split between client communications, drafting documents, dealing with other lawyers and court appearances. You can help save the lawyer time by doing a lot of the groundwork yourself enabling them to quickly get their head around your legal problem.

What you can do to save money and time

1. Shop around

Contrary to what most people think, there are plenty of quality lawyers out there hungry for work which places you, the consumer, in a good position. Selecting a lawyer is like any other process of selecting services. If you don't know where to begin, ask friends or family if they know anyone they can recommend, use Law Blah to link you up for a free assessment with a lawyer, or ask your local law institute for referrals. Whatever way you choose, don't be shy to call and ask:

• How much a lawyer would approximately charge for a particular type of legal issue.
• How many cases they've handled for similar issues and their successes.
• How long similar cases have taken to resolve.

Remember though that price is not the only factor to selecting a lawyer, but you can assess a lawyer in your first meeting to see if you feel confident about the arrangement.

2. Provide clear instructions

Lawyers take "instructions" in their first meeting with their clients. Instructions contain the scope of work that details your legal issues and is confirmed in writing by the lawyer in their retainer letter. A lawyer can only do work on your behalf if they know the full picture of your problem, this requires you to be organised, prepared and committed. Be clear with what you want the lawyer to do for you once they present you with your legal options in the retainer.

3. Create an event timeline and gather supporting information

Write down a brief timeline of events. This will not only help you define your legal problem, it will save your lawyer time from having to do it allowing them to focus on the detail of the timeline from the get go.

Gather all the supporting documents and photographs related to your legal problem and put them in date order in a file - these are called exhibits. Also write down on a single page any relevant names, addresses and contact phone numbers. Stick a numbered post-it note on each exhibit, also writing the number down in the timeline so it can be easily cross-referenced.

4. Consolidate your communications

Lawyers will charge for reading letters, emails and making phone-calls. If you are the type of person that communicates in a piecemeal way, it will cost you a lot more. Unless the information you need to communicate is urgent and time-sensitive, try and keep your communication to lawyers short, to the point and to a minumum. Lawyers will contact you if there is specific information they need, and to report on the progress of your case.

What you can expect from a lawyer

1. A retainer letter

A retainer is like a statement of work, your legal options and quotation in a written letter, do not retain a lawyer on a verbal arrangement. The retainer sets out the following information:

• A confirmation of your instructions - check this and make sure it is all correct, if not speak up!
• Your legal options - each option should have an estimate of likely success and outcome should you win or lose.
• Professional fees - as either a fixed price, or range as to what a course of action is likely to cost. Separate to this is an estimate of "disbursements" which are administrative costs or fees with third parties e.g. court/tribunal application fees or freedom of information requests.

2. A Costs Disclosure Statement, unless the legal work is under $750

The Costs Disclosure Statement expands on the estimate of legal work in the retainer letter and is there to disclose how the lawyer will charge for their legal work including disbursements. By law, a lawyer must provide you with the Statement if their fees are likely to exceed $750. The Statement should accompany the retainer letter, is meant to be in plain english, and normally runs into pages. If you don't understand it ask the lawyer to explain each point. Importantly it contains many of your rights including:

• An explanation of factors that could affect the legal costs if your case doesn't run smoothly.
• Notification to you of any substantial change to legal costs.
• If your case goes to court, disclosure of costs you are likely to recover, or have to pay if you win or lose.
• Your right to request an itemised bill within 30 days after you receive a lump sum bill.
• Your right to negotiate a Costs Agreement.

Note that failure to provide this Statement means that you won't have to pay the bill until it's been reviewed by the Supreme Court's Costs Court.

3. Possibly a Costs Agreement

Most lawyers will also create a Costs Agreement which is a written formal agreement between you and the lawyer to pay the agreed costs. While not required by law, the agreement is there to protect the lawyer. It may be that the Costs Agreement and Costs Disclosure Statement are the one document, so keep an eye out for this and ask the lawyer if you are uncertain. Lawyers can only charge for the work they have performed, with a maximum uplift of 25% of their fees if they take a case on a "No Win No Fee" basis. It is illegal for lawyers to charge based on a percentage of a settlement to you.

4. Keep you informed of the progress of your case

You have a right to ask for a progress report on your case. Lawyers should be keeping you informed of your case's progress in any event - if they are not then tell them that you expect this. This right by law should be outlined in the Costs Disclosure Statement.

5. To act honesty and efficiently in your best interests

Lawyers ethically and by law have a duty to act in your best interests - this is called a fiduciary duty. Honesty is a cornerstone of the legal profession's duty to clients, their peers and to the Court, with grave consequences for breaching this. A lawyer also as a duty of care to you to work efficiently and promptly to ensure that your case is resolved as quickly as possible.

6. To maintain your confidences

Anything you tell your lawyer is bound by a duty of confidentiality to you (unless you tell them you are about to commit a crime). This duty continues after your case has been resolved and closed. Lawyers therefore have to perform "conflict checks" before taking on a client to ensure they haven't worked previously with the opposing party you have a legal problem with.

Don't forget, you have rights

The most important thing to know is that you have rights whenever you deal with a lawyer. So much so that there is a Legal Services Commissioner in each state to oversee lawyer conduct. The benefit to you of such strict regulation means that the quality of work by the legal profession is of a high standard.