QY Legal Consultancy

Open to discuss with clients with different engagement models:

  • Hourly fee for an assignment/project

  • Retainer (monthly/quarterly/yearly) with fixed hours, and on top of the fixed hours, invoice on hourly fee (with a discounted hourly rate)

  • Fixed fee for an assignment/project

Hourly fee engagement model

Paying by the hour is more agreeable, accurate, and flexible. I will track the hours spent on the assignment and report to client on a regular basis (e.g. on a weekly or monthly basis). The invoicing based on the hours spent is therefore transparent.

While pay by the hour is certainly fair, it may not be the most efficient method for time-sensitive objectives. Hourly contracts do not specify the amount of time to be spent on the assignment, they merely set a rate of pay.

With this engagement model, I am not guaranteed with the work, therefore I am not required to prioritize time for the client’s assignments.

Retainer engagement model

Based on an hourly rate but specify the number of hours and weeks I will be retained. With this engagement model, client can ensure that I will be available for e.g. 20 hours per week, for the duration of 12 weeks. I will guarantee that I will allocate the agreed number of hours per week for the agreed duration to the client.

Should the client wish to exceed the retainer hours, we can agree in the retainer contract an alternative arrangement for the additional hours of work. Work that has not been completed within the retainer hours can be paid at a discounted hourly rate. If it appears that the contract’s timeframe will expire while the assignment is ongoing, it is possible to renew the contract or craft a new one suitable to the then current circumstances.

Fixed fee engagement model

In a fixed fee engagement model, the price is agreed upon in advance, and the final cost will not change, regardless of hours spent. To arrive at the billable amount, I will provide an estimate of the approximate total number of hours needed on the assignment, based on the content and the complexity of the assignment. The costs will be billed based on the standard hourly fee multiply with the estimated number of hours.