Cost of a consultation with a lawyer – the recommended minimum rate
The cost of a consultation with a lawyer is regulated within the framework Bar Association Rules (Recommended Minimum Rate), תש"ס-2000. שימו לב שמדובר בתעריף מינימלי מומלץ אך לא מחייב. כלומר, עורכי דין רשאים לגבות יותר או פחות, בהתאם לשיקול דעתם.
כללים אלה קובעים בעניין עלות פגישת ייעוץ עם עורך דין כך (המחירים לא כוללים מע"מ):
| (4) Consultation, opinions, notifications and authorizations: | |
| (a) Regular consultation without document review | 623 ש"ח |
| (b) Consultation including document review | 1,044 ש"ח |
| (c) Written opinion | 1,044 ש"ח |
| (d) Writing a warning letter | 270 ש"ח |
| (e) Preparing and signing an affidavit | 501 ש"ח |
| (f) Preparation of a general or irrevocable letter of authorization | 501 ש"ח |
The amounts in the table are updated slightly every year, and it is possible that by the time you read this article, the amounts will be slightly higher.
לפי התעריף המינימלי המומלץ של לשכת עורכי הדין עלות פגישת ייעוץ שלא כוללת בדיקת מסמכים תעלה 623 ש"ח בתוספת מע"מ, ופגישת ייעוץ שכוללת בדיקת מסמכמים תעלה לא פחות מ-1044 ש"ח בתוספת מע"מ.
In practice, many lawyers will agree to charge less than 600 shekels for a consultation just so that the client will actually come to their office and be interested in hiring their services. There are also many lawyers who will agree to hold a consultation for no charge at all for the same reason.
לעומת זאת, עורכי דין ותיקים ומנוסים גובים במקרים רבים סכום העולה על 1000 שקלים בתוספת מע"מ עבור פגישת ייעוץ. במקרים רבים אם הלקוח יבחר לשכור את שירותיו של עורך הדין בסיומה של פגישת הייעוץ, עלות פגישת ייעוץ עם עורך דין תקוזז משכר הטרחה לצורך הטיפול בבעיית הלקוח.
The cost of a consultation with a lawyer is not the most important thing
When you encounter a legal problem, especially if it is a serious legal problem or one with a high financial value, the cost of a consultation with a lawyer is one of the least important things. Imagine a situation where you reached out to a lawyer who did not charge for a consultation, and even hired his services for a fee. Fees Low, but it turned out that that lawyer is not at all experienced in the field you need, and is actually trying to gain knowledge and experience at the expense of your success.
It is important to find out what the lawyer's area of expertise is.
Instead of focusing on the cost of a consultation with a lawyer, you should first check whether the lawyer you want to contact deals with the issue that is relevant to you. For example: If you need Fraud and deceit lawyer There is no point in contacting Automotive Lawyer.
Like doctors, every lawyer has a field of expertise in which he specializes or a limited number of fields of expertise. Just as not every doctor knows how to cure every disease, not every lawyer knows how to handle every legal issue.
For this reason, it is very important (!) to choose a lawyer who is suitable for the legal problem relevant to you, because there is not even one lawyer in Israel who knows how to handle all existing legal problems (and anyone who claims to be a lawyer who knows how to handle every possible legal problem is misleading you).
It is important to check the lawyer's experience in the legal issue you are contacting him about.
There is a huge difference between a novice lawyer and a lawyer who has already handled dozens or hundreds of cases similar to yours. If you want to succeed and win in court or in negotiations with the opposing party, you must choose an experienced lawyer who has already handled cases similar to yours, and more importantly, has been able to successfully represent his client.
Instead of searching the internet for the cost of a consultation with a lawyer, first search the lawyer's name on Google and see exactly what is advertised about him. You may find that most of the advertisements deal with issues that are not at all relevant to you, and this may be a sign that the lawyer you want to contact does not deal with the issue that is relevant to you at all.
If your problem requires filing a lawsuit in court, try to find court rulings that mention the lawyer you want to contact. Read examples of the court rulings and see what was decided regarding that lawyer, whether he was able to successfully represent his clients or not.
If you are unable to find court rulings, try checking references about the same lawyer on sites like The trial worm or Nevo (If you have a paid subscription).
Another way to check the lawyer's experience is to check what legal articles have been published on his or her firm's website. If you find many articles on issues relevant to your problem, read the articles and see if they are indeed articles that demonstrate unique professional knowledge, or if they are very general articles from which nothing can be deduced about professional knowledge in that legal field. If there are many articles on the website, this may indicate that the lawyer does indeed deal with the specific field in which those articles deal.
Cost of a consultation with a practicing lawyer
אחרי שבדקתם את עלות פגישת ייעוץ עם עורך דין דרך האינטרנט, ואחרי שבדקתם מהו ניסיונו ותחום המתמחותו של עורך הדין חשוב להבין מה באמת קורה "בשטח" כאשר מגיעים למשרד עורך דין שמצד אחד רוצה לתת ייעוץ משפטי ללקוח מבלי לבזבז את זמנו של עורך הדין, ומצד שני רוצה להיות הוגן עם הלקוח שמתכוון לשכור את שירותיו של עורך הדין.
In most cases, if at the end of the consultation (or very shortly thereafter) the client informs the lawyer that he is interested in hiring his services, the lawyer will usually agree to deduct the cost of the consultation from the fees for handling the client's problem, because if the client had immediately hired the lawyer's services (without holding the consultation), the client would have received the same consultation at no additional charge.
This issue is important when considering the cost of a consultation with a lawyer because if the lawyer agrees to deduct the cost of the consultation from the fee, the cost of the consultation is almost meaningless because the client who chooses to hire the lawyer's services usually knows in advance that he will pay him a fee for the treatment, which exceeds the amount of the consultation.
In other words, even if the cost of the meeting is only 500 shekels or even 1500 shekels, it has no significance if the client hires the lawyer's services, because these amounts are offset from the lawyer's base salary.
In any case, to avoid any doubt, you can always ask the lawyer whether he will agree to deduct the cost of the meeting from the fees, even before arriving at the meeting, thus preventing misunderstandings.
Should I prefer a lawyer who does not charge for a consultation?
As I have explained so far, the cost of a consultation with a lawyer should be a negligible consideration when choosing a lawyer, especially if it is a complex legal problem or if it is a legal problem with a high monetary value.
The client's goal should ultimately be to locate and hire the services of a good and experienced lawyer. And not a cheap lawyerRemember that, especially in the legal world, what is cheap may cost a lot.
Sometimes it will cost much more to correct the mistakes of an inexperienced lawyer than to do it right in the first place with an experienced lawyer. In some cases, mistakes made by an inexperienced lawyer cannot be corrected at all, and in these cases you may have to consider filing a A lawsuit against a lawyer for professional negligence.
Either way, in such cases you will probably have to pay a much higher fee compared to hiring the services of an experienced lawyer who would have performed the work more correctly and faster.
After a consultation with a lawyer, make sure a detailed fee agreement is signed.
In order to prevent problems in the future, after a consultation with a lawyer, and assuming you have decided to hire his services, it is very important to sign a fee agreement that details what service the lawyer will provide you and what payment you undertake to pay him for his services.
ללא הסכם שכר טרחה מפורט וברור עשויות לצוץ בעיות ו"אי הבנות" בעתיד שעשויות להשפיע על טיב היחסים בין הלקוח לעורך הדין או על טיב השירות המשפטי שעורך הדין יפסק ללקוח.
Problems may also arise if it is decided to Cancellation of a fee agreement with a lawyerIf the fee agreement does not specify how the parties will act if one of them wishes to terminate the engagement prematurely or before the completion of the action for which the lawyer's services were hired.
In conclusion
עלות פגישת ייעוץ עם עורך דין עשויה לנוע בקלות בין 600 – 1500 שקלים בתוספת מע"מ, ולעיתים גם סכומים גבוהים מאלה, אם מדובר בעורך דין ותיק ומנוסה.
The cost of a consultation with a lawyer should be a low to zero consideration when choosing a lawyer, especially if you have encountered a complicated legal problem or the financial value of the legal problem is high.
When choosing a lawyer, you should focus on the lawyer's area of expertise and experience. The more a lawyer specializes in the area relevant to your legal problem, and the more experience he or she has in that area, the more likely it is that that lawyer is right for you.
Today, it is easy to find out via the Internet what each lawyer does and specializes in. Don't hesitate to do preliminary research before contacting any lawyer.
