Conduct and service

Tell the whole storyThis column recently dealt with the problem of solicitors not giving clients full costs information.

The issue raised its head in another recent complaint - indeed, it seems to cause many solicitors difficulty.It must be remembered that the Solicitors Costs Information and Client Care Code 1999 requires more than just telling the client, at the outset of a retainer, the charge-out rate.

It also requires that costs information should be given to the client not only at the outset of the matter, but at all 'appropriate stages throughout'.

All information about the potential overall cost should be given where possible.

You should update clients about the costs position at regular intervals of not more than six months.These were requirements that the solicitor in question apparently overlooked.

At the outset of a retainer which obviously had the potential to get complicated, the solicitors sent a client care letter detailing their charging rate and also asked for a payment on account.

Justifiably, the solicitors explained it was impossible to second-guess the ultimate costs level until they knew which way matters might go.However, when they next wrote to the client - once it was known which way matters were progressing - their costs advice was unclear and ambiguous.

It was open to interpretation as to whether they were now quoting a budget figure that included or excluded the sum they had previously mentioned, and whether it included or excluded certain major disbursements.When the final bill was drawn, the total costs were more than 10,000 over what had been expected - some 60% more than the estimate given on one interpretation of its meaning.To make matters worse, although bills had been rendered at less than six-monthly intervals, because of the pace at which costs were accumulating, it would have been appropriate to have sent interim bills at, say, monthly intervals.

Had that been done, the client would have had a better appreciation of the costs position and the likely final figure.The moral is simple.

Always watch the accumulation of costs.

Make sure you update the client at regular and appropriate intervals.

The final costs bill should never come as a shock to the client.

l Every case before the adjudication panel is decided on its individual facts.

These case studies are for illustration only and should not be treated as precedents.