Can my solicitor increase his fees from the original quoted figure?

Hi, When i sold my Spanish house in Malaga province in 2006 there was a discrepancy between the catastal map and the (accurate) deeds and I had to leave 3000 euros retention. The solicitor quoted 500 euros as the cost of simple changes to the boundary on the map. The process at the Catastro has taken over 2 years and as predicted the changes cost just short of 500 euros but the solicitor has added on 2000 euros in fees! is this legitimate - it seems disproportionately high compared to the costs of the job. Can you tell me if there is a set scale of fees for solicitors or a professional body which might look at this problem? Thanks

Dear Sir,

You can have the Law Society/Bar Association of which he/she is a member of to examine if his fees are fair.

However, the Law Society caps the minimum legal fees for each legal service so there's no "dumping" of legal services. But it does not cap the maximum a lawyer can charge for his legal services.

i.e. in a litigation case we were submitted by a potential client we quoted him 6,000€ plus 10% on all the recovered funds whereas another law firm quoted him almost 24,000€ upfront exactly for the same legal service.

You are in your right to request a full breakdown of legal fees before retaining him so ther wre no surprises. Some services, such as litigation, it may be difficult to give an exact quotation as the fees hinge on whether a case is won/lost or even appealed so different scenarios can happen which have associated different legal fees.

This said, your laywer should have estimated better his fees when you first retained him. If you have signed a letter of engagement showing a breakdown of services, together with the fees charged, you may be able to contest the invoice.

Yours faithfully,