What disputes work costs, and how we bill it.
Contentious work cannot be quoted like a fixed transaction — but it can be explained, estimated and controlled. Here is how we charge, and how we keep it predictable.
Complimentary · 30 minutes
We meet or call to scope your matter, identify the real issues and the deadlines, and tell you plainly whether you have something worth pursuing. There is no charge and no obligation for this first conversation.
Charged by the hour
Most contentious work is billed on the time actually worked, at the hourly rate of the lawyer doing it. We give you an estimate for each stage at the outset and update it as the matter develops, so there are no surprises on the bill.
For defined stages
Where a stage can be scoped with confidence — an adjudication, an injunction application, a defined interlocutory step — we will, where possible, agree a fixed fee for it so you know the cost before we begin.
Why we cannot work “no win, no fee”
Clients sometimes ask whether we will act on a contingency — a percentage of what is recovered, payable only if the claim succeeds. For litigation in Malaysia the answer is no, and it is not a matter of preference: contingency and percentage fee arrangements for contentious work are unlawful, as arrangements savouring of maintenance and champerty. Any firm that offers one is offering something it cannot properly deliver.
What we can do is make cost predictable — through fixed fees for defined stages, staged estimates, and honest early advice about whether a claim justifies its expense. Often the most valuable thing we tell a client is that a matter is not worth pursuing.
Disbursements and tax
In addition to our fees, a contentious matter usually involves disbursements — court filing fees, arbitration and adjudication fees, experts, and similar third-party costs — which we estimate in advance and bill at cost. Service tax applies to legal fees at the prevailing rate. Your engagement letter sets out the basis of charging in full before any work begins.
A note on costs orders
In litigation, the losing party is usually ordered to pay a portion of the winning party’s costs — but “party-and-party” costs recovered rarely cover the full fees actually incurred. We factor the realistic recovery into the advice we give on whether, and how far, to litigate.