Is there any specific standard for how much a lawyer charges? Lawyer fees vary greatly depending on factors such as region and case type. Moreover, different lawyers have different charging standards. The fees are usually negotiated. Please check regional attorney fee schedules. Criminal cases are generally charged in stages (respectively, the investigation stage, prosecution stage, and trial stage), and you can also negotiate with a lawyer to entrust the entire process. After accepting the entrustment, the lawyer can meet with the criminal suspect or defendant to learn about the case, and enjoy different rights according to different stages of the litigation.
2. Article 1 of the "Measures for Fees for Lawyers' Services" is to regulate the charging of lawyer services, protect the legitimate rights and interests of clients and lawyers, and promote the healthy development of the lawyer service industry. According to the "Price Law", "Lawyers Law" 》 and other relevant laws and regulations to formulate these Measures. Article 2 These Measures shall apply to the fees charged by law firms established in accordance with the Lawyers Law of the People's Republic of China and lawyers authorized to practice law for providing legal services to clients. Article 3 Lawyer service fees shall follow the principles of openness, fairness, voluntary payment, and good faith. Law firms should facilitate and benefit the people, strengthen internal management, reduce service costs, and provide clients with convenient and high-quality legal services. Article 4 Lawyer service fees shall be subject to government-guided prices and market-regulated prices. Article 5 Law firms provide the following legal services at prices guided by the government: (1) Agency for civil litigation cases; (2) Agency for administrative litigation cases; (3) Agency for state compensation cases; (4) Provision of legal advice to criminal suspects, To act as an agent for complaints and accusations, to apply for bail pending trial, and to serve as defenders for defendants or as private prosecution agents for victims; (4) To provide legal advice to criminal suspects, to act as agents for complaints and accusations, to apply for bail pending trial, and to serve as defenders or as private prosecution agents for victims. (5) Act as agent for various litigation cases. Law firms provide other legal services at market-regulated prices. Article 6 The price benchmarks and fluctuation ranges set by the government shall be formulated by the price administrative departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government in conjunction with the judicial administrative departments at the same level. Article 7 When formulating charging standards for lawyer services, the government shall listen to opinions from all aspects of society and may conduct hearings when necessary. Article 8 The government shall fully consider the local economic development level, social affordability and the long-term development of the lawyer's career when formulating charging standards for lawyer services. The charging standards shall be compensated based on the average social cost of lawyer services, and reasonable profits and statutory taxes and fees shall be added. Article 9 The fee standards for lawyer services subject to market-adjusted prices shall be determined by the law firm through negotiation with the client. When a law firm negotiates with a client to determine the charging standards for lawyer services, the following main factors should be comprehensively considered: (1) The time spent on the work; (2) The difficulty of the legal affairs; (3) The client's affordability; (4) The risks and responsibilities that lawyers may bear; (5) The lawyer’s social reputation and work level, etc. Article 10 Lawyer service charges may be based on different service contents, such as piece-rate charges, proportional charges based on the subject matter, and hourly charges. Piece-rate fees are generally applicable to legal matters that do not involve property relationships; fees based on proportion of the subject matter are applicable to legal matters involving property relationships; hourly fees can be applied to all legal matters. Article 11 In civil cases involving property relations, if the client still requests contingency agency after being informed of the government's guidance price, the law firm may implement contingency agency fees, except in the following circumstances: (1) Marriage and inheritance cases; (2) ) Requesting for social insurance benefits or minimum living security benefits; (3) Requesting for the payment of alimony; (4) Requesting for the payment of alimony, childcare fees, alimony, pensions, relief funds, and work-related injury compensation. Article 12 It is prohibited to implement contingency fees in criminal, administrative, state compensation cases and group litigation cases. Article 13 If contingency agency fees are implemented, the law firm shall sign a contingency agency fee contract with the client to stipulate the risk responsibilities, fee standards, fee ratios or proportions that both parties shall bear. If risk agency charges are implemented, the maximum charge amount shall not be higher than 30% of the subject amount of the charging contract.
Article 14 Law firms shall strictly implement the management measures for lawyer fees formulated by the pricing department in conjunction with the judicial administrative department at the same level. Article 15 Law firms shall publish information on lawyer fee management and other information and accept social supervision. Article 16 After accepting an entrustment, a law firm shall sign a lawyer service charging contract with the client or state the charging terms in the entrustment and agency contract. The charging contract or charging terms should include: charging items, charging standards, charging methods, fee payment and settlement, dispute resolution methods, etc. Article 17 After a law firm signs a contract with a client, it shall not unilaterally change the charging standard or increase the amount of charging. If changes are really necessary, the law firm must obtain the client's written consent in advance. Article 18 If a law firm collects attorney fees from a client, it shall issue a bill for attorney fees to the client. Article 19 Litigation fees, arbitration fees, appraisal fees, notarization fees and archival fees paid by a law firm on behalf of the client in the process of providing legal services are not considered lawyer service charges and shall be paid separately by the client. Article 20 If a law firm needs to collect travel expenses for case handling in advance, it shall provide the client with an estimate of the expenses, which shall be signed and confirmed by both parties after consensus is reached through consultation. If it is necessary to change the fee estimate, the law firm must obtain the client's written consent in advance. Article 21 When settling the relevant expenses stipulated in Articles 18 and 19, the law firm shall provide the client with a list of expenses paid on behalf of the client and valid vouchers for travel expenses for handling the case. The client may not pay the portion for which valid vouchers cannot be provided. Article 22 Lawyer service fees, fees paid on behalf of the client and travel expenses shall be borne by the law firm. Lawyers are not allowed to charge any fees from clients privately. In addition to the three fees listed in the preceding paragraph, law firms and lawyers may not charge other fees from clients in any name. Article 23 Law firms shall accept the assignment of legal aid cases. No fees may be charged to recipients for handling legal aid cases. For citizens with financial difficulties who do not meet the scope of legal aid, law firms can reduce or waive legal service fees. Article 24 If a law firm establishes a branch in another place, it shall comply with the charging regulations of the location where the branch is located. Article 25 When a law firm provides legal services, it may comply with the charging regulations of the location where the law firm is located or where the legal services are provided. The specific measures shall be determined through consultation between the law firm and the client. Article 26 Price authorities at all levels shall strengthen supervision and inspection of law firms’ charging practices. If a law firm or lawyer commits any of the following price violations, the government’s price department will impose administrative penalties in accordance with the Price Law and the Provisions on Administrative Penalties for Price Violations: (1) Failure to charge lawyer service fees in accordance with regulations; ( 2) Implementing the government-guided price in advance or delaying it; (3) Exceeding the government-guided price; (4) Charging beyond the range or range of the government-guided price; (4) Using methods such as decomposing charging items, duplicating charges, expanding the scope, etc. to increase the price in disguised form Charging standards; (5) Charging prices that are significantly lower than cost to engage in unfair competition; (6) Other price violations. Article 27 Judicial administrative departments at all levels shall strengthen supervision and inspection of the legal service activities of law firms and lawyers. If a law firm or lawyer commits any of the following illegal acts, the judicial administrative department shall impose administrative penalties in accordance with the provisions of the Lawyers Law and the Measures for Penalties for Illegal Acts of Lawyers and Law Firms: (1) Violation of the uniform acceptance of entrustments by law firms , Signing a written entrustment contract or fee contract; (2) Violating the law firm's regulations on uniform collection of lawyer service fees, agency fees and payment of fees on behalf of the client. The fees and travel expenses paid by the client; (3) Failure to provide the client with an estimate of travel expenses collected in advance, failure to issue legal bills for lawyer services, and failure to provide valid vouchers for fees paid by the client and travel expenses for handling cases in other places; (4) ) Violates the law firm’s regulations on the unified custody and use of lawyer service financial notes and business records; (5) Violates the law firm’s regulations on accepting entrustments and signing written entrustment contracts or fee contracts. (5) Other behaviors that violate lawyer practice discipline and professional ethics. Article 28 If citizens, legal persons and other organizations believe that law firms or lawyers have committed price violations, they may report or complain to the pricing department, judicial administration department or lawyers association through letters, phone calls, visits, etc.
Article 29 If the local people's government's price department or judicial administrative department exceeds its pricing authority and formulates or adjusts lawyer service charging standards without authorization, the price department at the higher level or the people's government at the same level shall order it to make corrections; if the case is serious, the relevant responsibilities shall be punished in accordance with the law. Personnel are punished. Article 30 If a dispute arises over lawyer service fees, the law firm shall negotiate with the client to resolve the dispute. If negotiation fails, the matter can be submitted to the bar association, judicial administrative department and pricing department where the law firm is located for mediation, or it can apply for arbitration or file a lawsuit with the People's Court. Article 31 The charging standards for lawyers’ dispute mediation services will be formulated separately. Article 32 The pricing departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in conjunction with the judicial administrative departments at the same level, formulate specific implementation measures for the management of lawyer service fees in accordance with these Measures, and submit them to the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Justice for filing. Article 33 The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Justice are responsible for the interpretation of these Measures. Article 34 These Measures shall come into effect on December 1, 2006. After reading the above content, we can understand that there is no numerical value for how much a lawyer's fee generally costs. Due to different levels of economic development, or the reputation of the lawyer, the complexity of the case, etc., the standards for lawyer's fees are also different. Generally, it is Negotiable. If there are unreasonable circumstances, you can complain to the local price management department or court.