The Austrian Lawyer’s Tariff regulations contain various particular features which differ from other billing systems:
The lawyer charges a fixed fee for services such as letters, legal opinions, legal documents, law suits, appeals, contracts and other such services, regardless of how much time they involve. The legislation assumes that the time invested into simpler tasks is balanced out by the more complex undertakings. It is down to the personal method of working adopted by the lawyer in question as to how to settle any such payment-related disparities. Clients familiar with this matter will quickly sense whether their lawyer’s method of working is in line with their expectations and views.
The other special feature of the Austrian Lawyer’s Tariff regulations is that the price only covers services provided by the lawyer himself. All services relating to secretarial work, preparatory activities, general Chambers expenses and other such costs are - from a business-management point of view - included in the quote. They are not charged separately! It should therefore be ensured that the relevant tariff quote also reflects the time to be invested by the rest of the Chambers.
The Austrian Lawyer’s Tariff regulations also differ in that the tariff quotations are dependent on the value of the claim. This has been established in the legislation. The reason for this may well be to enable the provision of legal advice at a socially appropriate cost in relation to the litigation case. This means, in cases where the value of the claim is low, the lawyer has to work below the profit margin and therefore this imbalance can only be evened out through cases with a higher claim value.
The Austrian jurisdiction is defined by the principle that the losing party must proportionally reimburse the costs of the prevailing party. In order to protect the losing party from any immoral fees, the legislation has standardised the ancillary services provided in relation to written submissions and dispute negotiations and introduced a so-called standard rate. Regardless of the fact that, during judicial proceedings, only these standard rates can be imposed on the opponent for reimbursement, all clients for whom these standardised services are insufficient are entitled to draw upon the consultation services of their lawyer according to their requirements and needs. If required or by agreement, the lawyer can charge the client directly for these indiviudal services as part of the internal process and in accordance with the principles established above. The lawyer’s tariffs may therefore appear unusual at first glance. However, upon closer inspection and clarification, it will emerge that this system represents a fair and efficient form of invoicing for all parties concerned.
The lawyer charges a fixed fee for services such as letters, legal opinions, legal documents, law suits, appeals, contracts and other such services, regardless of how much time they involve. The legislation assumes that the time invested into simpler tasks is balanced out by the more complex undertakings. It is down to the personal method of working adopted by the lawyer in question as to how to settle any such payment-related disparities. Clients familiar with this matter will quickly sense whether their lawyer’s method of working is in line with their expectations and views.
The other special feature of the Austrian Lawyer’s Tariff regulations is that the price only covers services provided by the lawyer himself. All services relating to secretarial work, preparatory activities, general Chambers expenses and other such costs are - from a business-management point of view - included in the quote. They are not charged separately! It should therefore be ensured that the relevant tariff quote also reflects the time to be invested by the rest of the Chambers.
The Austrian Lawyer’s Tariff regulations also differ in that the tariff quotations are dependent on the value of the claim. This has been established in the legislation. The reason for this may well be to enable the provision of legal advice at a socially appropriate cost in relation to the litigation case. This means, in cases where the value of the claim is low, the lawyer has to work below the profit margin and therefore this imbalance can only be evened out through cases with a higher claim value.
The Austrian jurisdiction is defined by the principle that the losing party must proportionally reimburse the costs of the prevailing party. In order to protect the losing party from any immoral fees, the legislation has standardised the ancillary services provided in relation to written submissions and dispute negotiations and introduced a so-called standard rate. Regardless of the fact that, during judicial proceedings, only these standard rates can be imposed on the opponent for reimbursement, all clients for whom these standardised services are insufficient are entitled to draw upon the consultation services of their lawyer according to their requirements and needs. If required or by agreement, the lawyer can charge the client directly for these indiviudal services as part of the internal process and in accordance with the principles established above. The lawyer’s tariffs may therefore appear unusual at first glance. However, upon closer inspection and clarification, it will emerge that this system represents a fair and efficient form of invoicing for all parties concerned.