A question frequently asked by a lot of people is: “I want to institute a civil claim against a guy I know who defamed me on a certain social media platform, how much is it going to cost me?”

One leg of law which one can never pre-determine the legal costs thereof is litigation in general. By litigation in general, writer hereof refers to Commercial litigation, Divorces, Personal Injury matter, Labour Law, Intellectual Property Law, Motor vehicle accidents, etc. This can also be said about Criminal Law.

The first step in any legal matter would be a party scheduling an appointment with his/her attorney. A consultation fee is charged in that regard and that consultation fee differs from legal firm to another. This fee is one which is pre-determined as it is one for your first consultation with your attorney and also for the opening of a file. The attorney will subsequently provide legal advice to the said client together with prospects of success therein.

Thereafter, a letter of demand shall be sent towards the Defendant and a reply to defend such matter shall be served upon your attorney after he/she has issued and served Summons upon the Defendant. This is the litigation process commencing which will most likely end up in a Court of law. If for some reason the Defendant does not defend the matter within the prescribed time limit, an attorney will thereafter apply for default judgment, meaning that judgment shall be granted in your favour. However, when it comes to divorce matters, a fee may be arranged with your legal practitioner, especially for an unopposed divorce. Nowadays, civil matters are most likely to be settled between the attorneys upon their clients' instruction, this is usually done to avoid a lengthy and costly court procedure. 

The content explained in the previous paragraph is a simple example why the costs involved in a civil matter can never be pre-determined when consulting with an attorney the first time. The best an attorney can and should do, is to inform the client before taking any instruction on his fees on an attorney and own client scale, i.e the attorney should explain to the client how much a follow up or any other consultation will be, the drafting of documents involved, the court appearances, the telephone calls, the correspondences, the travelling costs if need be, etc.

In a criminal case, it’s the State against the accused. The person who will need an attorney in that case is the accused and not the complainant (the victim). The reason why I feel it’s necessary to point this out is the fact that I have received several requests from clients seeking an attorney in a criminal matter while they are the victims. This however does not mean that a victim in a criminal case may not approach an attorney, the victim may do so in cases where he/she wants to institute civil action against the accused for financial or even non-patrimonial damages incurred. In a criminal matter, there are different approaches an attorney may decide to take on a case, considering the evidence before him and that of the State. An attorney may advise the accused to enter a plea of not guilty and go on trial, enter a guilty plea, plea explanation, or even go on trial if he/she feels that the State’s case cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt. All the aforementioned happens with the instruction of the accused, but on the advice from his/her legal practitioner. Sometimes the State would withdraw charges if there is no case at all against the accused.

An attorney’s fees differ based on experience, therefore will an attorney at most inform a client how much he/she charges for a certain plea, or a daily fee when the matter goes to trial. A lengthy criminal matter may cost a lot of money since it normally requires a lot of  court appearances and preparation for trial purposes.

There is a guide on legal fees as per the Legal Practice Act in South Africa, meaning that a legal practitioner is not allowed to charge excessively to a certain unreasonable point. Furthermore the Act makes provision for legal practitioners to charge based on their experience and expertise.

Therefore, when it comes to a civil matters, one can never say how much the precise legal costs are going to be, unless your legal practitioner gives you an estimation of such.