KEY POINTS:
Victory isn't always worth the cost of the battle. That's the view of lawyers in the wake of the landmark leaky-home case which has cost a 70-year-old widow almost $200,000 in legal and consultancy fees.
Their advice is that people need to work out - make sure you get plenty of estimates first - whether a long legal fight, that could see bills spiral to an astronomical size, would outweigh any rewards from eventual victory.
Colleen Dicks won a three-year battle for justice against the Waitakere District Council and was awarded $250,000 compensation for her leaky home. But she has been stung with a $198,000 bill for legal, court and consultancy services.
Dicks has since said she would have been better off repairing her inhabitable house than going to court. Her lawyer, Paul Grimshaw, has suggested that his $72,000 bill could be reviewed by the Law Society if she has concerns.
Lawyers - who rank 28th on the Readers' Digest list of most trusted professions - say court battles can become a matter of money versus morals for clients. They say legal bills often get out of hand when people become unwittingly drawn into litigation beyond their control.
"If it's a matter of economics, cut your losses and get on with life," says Paul Maskell, chair of the Family Law executive of the New Zealand Law Society. "If it's a matter of principle, you're going to fight it to the end, but there are significant costs and it won't make you any more satisfied in the end."
Divorces, child custody battles and disputed estates have been Maskell's bread and butter for 27 years and he says no two cases are the same - and therefore bills vary wildly.
Marriages can be dissolved for a mere $175 court fee - but costs begin to escalate when it comes to splitting up the matrimonial property. If husband and wife agree on everything, a lawyer can draw up the documents for as little as $800. But couples who squabble over property out of spite lose financially.
Every letter sent, every appointment, every court appearance and every phone call adds up. Maskell recently had a divorce case in which the bill rocketed to $28,000.
"Often it's to do with the bitterness of the breakup. They wanted to fight over every single piece of property, because they each knew the other wanted something," Maskell said.
Legal aid is available for custody battles, which can make them long and drawn out. Maskell has acted in cases that have cost $40,000.
Buying and selling property is another legal minefield in which it can pay to spend more in the short-term to save in the long run. About $500 is the "absolute bare bones" to pay for conveyancing, says Chris Moore, chairman of the property executive of the NZLS - although legal costs differ.
"You cannot get that price for all the bells and whistles, which frankly, I think are needed. Lawyers can save you an enormous amount of money."
For up to $3500, an experienced property lawyer can search the land title, check the Land Information Memorandum, code compliance certificates and building consents, as well as property boundaries, valuations, right-of-way access, building reports and locality checks.
Legal bills escalate when vendors decide to be "difficult" by removing fixtures such as the television aerial, security systems or carpets which are not nailed down - or simply break the agreement.
And Moore says: "The purchaser can be completely innocent. If they end up in litigation in the High Court, or Court of Appeal, you're talking tens of thousands of dollars."
Employment disputes are a growing area for lawyers - and anyone who feels they've been unfairly dismissed or treated will need to spend at least $200 to file a notice of grievance, says Lawrence Ponniah, a partner at Corban Revell.
If no settlement is offered, $3000 is needed for a day-long mediation in the Department of Labour, and a further $3000 to file with the Employment Relations Authority.
Ponniah says most cases don't go beyond mediation, because the average payout is only $2000-$4000, which is not "worth their while" for clients. Ponniah did act in one drawn-out employment battle in which the legal fees amounted to $30,000 - but his client was awarded $30,000 in compensation plus 18 months' money for lost earnings.
