Your experience of commercial litigation is likely to be fairly awful. Why? It takes a long time to get a decision and it costs a lot. Not only this, the decision is hard to predict. And if you do win, getting paid is a whole new exercise in frustration and cost.
The District Court (claims up to $200k) has tried to make this process cheaper and quicker. To get to trial in Northland takes about a year. The cost is unlikely to be less than $10k.
The High Court (claims above $200K) is in the process of simplifying the claim process. It can take 2 years to get to trial. The costs are very high.
Contract law is said to be about certainty. But seldom will a lawyer give you any certainty about the expected result at trial. Why? This is not just because the law is hard and judges do what they want. And it is not because lawyers use tactics to stop or delay you getting the right decision.
Because we all colour our memory and emphasise aspects of history that most suit, lawyers don’t take so much notice of what clients think happened, rather, they take notice of documents written at the relevant time. So, all of the documents, emails, hand written notes, invoices, spreadsheets, databases, drafts and statements have to be gathered, put in order and read. They then need to be matched and checked with witness statements as to what the documents mean. This takes a lot of time.
Every civil case is a matter of degree. So, the other reason litigation is expensive is that the other lawyer is usually smart enough to come up with some argument, different to yours, that fits some of the documents. There are no absolutes. At best, most of the evidence will support your case. But what about those few pieces of evidence that do not? How do you explain them?
Spend more time up front on the case before going to Court. You are better off spending money finding out the issues and problems before filing in Court. Have all the documents in early to the lawyer so he/she can give you a better assessment of cost and risk.
Costs will most often be quoted as a set amount if settlement is reached but if settlement does not happen early and the case goes to court then our fee is reviewed with you. Work is then usually done on an hourly rate. It is hard to get a fixed price estimate of fees.
We make an assessment about whether your case needs the added cost of a barrister. If the matter is complex or the claim being made is worth a lot we will usually instruct a barrister.
If we do that, we collate information, talk directly to you about aspects of the case and settlement opportunities and start draft statements for the barrister to finish. The barrister will set the strategy of the case (what to emphasise and what to leave out), direct any research, finish statements and conduct the actual trial.
October 2011