Every professional must have a certain degree of knowledge and education in their field, which infers to those doing business with them that the professional has all the knowledge and experience required and will exercise their skill with appropriate care and caution.
The excessive prices charged by these specialists are the result of both societal pressure and their actions. We believe that a professional must be more competent the more they charge for their services and that in exchange for their high costs, clients will receive more top-notch services from these specialists.
Lawyer fees
It is believed that the legal profession is a noble one, in which attorneys put their clients' interests ahead of their own. In this profession, ethics prevail over attorneys' self-interest.
A typical Indian litigant must pay an average of Rs. 465 each day for court procedures, says research released by DAKSH. Few people take advantage of the free legal services provided by the National Legal Services Authority Act of 1987. According to the research, a sizable portion of litigants was from lower-class backgrounds; nevertheless, only 2.36% of them were able to select solicitors selected by the court.
It is hard for even middle-class and upper-class people to afford to pay their lawyers large retainers up front, even in cases when they win. Furthermore, there is almost no regulation in India regarding the fees that solicitors charge for their services. The 2013 regulations of the Supreme Court stipulate that a lawyer can only charge a maximum of Rs. 8000 each hearing—not even half of what other lawyers charge. A Supreme Court appearance often costs between Rs. 10 and Rs. 20 lakh, according to the nation's top solicitors.
Since attorneys base their fees on their customers' ability to pay, the cost of legal representation varies from client to client. For matters in the High Court, it has been observed that attorneys charge between Rs. 3 and Rs. 6 lakh every hearing. If the attorney must go to different High Courts, the fees may exceed Rs. 25 lakh. Trial court proceedings cost about Rs. 10 lakh, and there have been examples when solicitors have asked to be paid a reasonable percentage of the money that their clients in accident claims have won.
Case Law:
The Supreme Court recognized the problem of high fees being charged by solicitors in the Sunitha v. State of Telangana case. It decided that an advocate's fee that was predicated on a portion of the litigation's outcome was unlawful and should not be accepted. The Supreme Court sought legislation to prevent the impoverished segments of our society from being forced out of the legal system and to regulate the growing commercialization of the legal profession.
The Delhi High Court ordered the Bar Council of India to create guidelines on how Indian lawyers should bill professional legal fees in the Deepa Bhure v. Jai Kishan case. In this instance, the client had given the council multiple checks as security for his expert legal expenses. In addition, the council presented the checks in the bank even after his client withdrew his services, and the counsel filed a criminal case against the client for failing to pay the full amount owed for legal representation. It was decided that the attorney was being unreasonable when he accepted blank checks as payment for fees and cashed them in the bank without first getting the client's consent.
It was noted that there are gaps in the Bar Council of India's norms for professional behavior and etiquette that make it easy for litigants to be harassed, as was the case in this instance. The guidelines also do not contain any limitations on the amount of money that solicitors may charge for their services. Additionally, a resolution process was to be established, and part of that system should be the appointment of an outside Ombudsman to handle any complaints from litigants regarding the fees that lawyers charge for their services or about unethical behavior on their part.
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