We are developing as a systemic law firm, which is why in most cases we apply an hourly billing model. For the client, this means paying only for the services that were actually rendered, while for us it means being able to accurately track the scope of services provided, the time spent by each lawyer, the efficiency of our staff, and the performance of individual projects.
When determining the fee, we take into account only the net working time of our attorney or lawyer on a specific matter. Understanding every client’s desire to plan their budget, in most cases we can, upon request, provide a fairly accurate forecast of our time expenditure on a given case and, accordingly, an estimated fee amount.
BASE HOURLY RATES OF LAW FIRM “BORYSENKO AND PARTNERS”
| Type of legal assistance | Cost per hour of work, euro (€)* |
| Oral and written consultations, preparation of legal opinions. Actual support of transactions involving corporate rights and real estate. Representation by an attorney of the client’s interests in courts in commercial, administrative and civil cases, including analysis of case materials, preparation of procedural documents and legal assistance at court hearings. | €65 |
| Legal assistance by an attorney in criminal proceedings, including: accompanying interrogations, searches and other procedural actions; representation before law enforcement officers; legal assistance at court hearings; drafting of procedural documents. | €80 |
ESTIMATED COST OF SELECTED LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDED BY LAW FIRM “BORYSENKO AND PARTNERS”
| Service | Estimated all-inclusive cost, euro (€)* |
| Initial legal consultation | €25 |
| Preparation of a detailed written legal consultation or legal opinion | €100–250 |
| Full representation by an attorney in a court of first instance | €300–1000 |
| Attorney accompaniment during an interrogation | €100 |
| Attorney accompaniment during a search | from €200 |
| Registration of a legal entity | from €250 |
| Liquidation of a legal entity | from €1000 |
| Legal due diligence of residential property (apartment or house) prior to purchase | €200 |
| Corporate training “How to act during a search on company premises” | from €500 |
*Please note that for the convenience of clients located outside Ukraine, fees are indicated using the euro (€) as the reference currency. Clients who are residents of Ukraine pay fees in Ukrainian hryvnias at the exchange rate of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Notes:
- The billing unit is 0.5 hours (30 minutes). If services are provided outside the law firm’s office, a minimum of one hour of the firm’s work is charged.
- When services are provided outside of business hours (on non-working and public holidays as defined in Article 73 of the Labour Code of Ukraine, as well as on working days between 18:00 and 09:00 Kyiv time), provided that out-of-hours services are rendered at the client’s request or due to circumstances that objectively prevent their provision during business hours, a coefficient of 1.5 is applied to the hourly rate.
- When services are provided directly by the managing partner of the law firm at the client’s request, a coefficient of 2.0 is applied to the cost of services.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ATTORNEY FEES
Hourly billing has long been used by lawyers around the world and has proven to be the optimal method of determining the cost of legal services for both the client and the lawyer.
The billable hour of one of our lawyers should not be compared to an hour worked by an in-house company lawyer. The working time of our lawyer or attorney is effective net time — the time actually invested in preparing a document or analysing an issue.
For example, an in-house company lawyer might spend a week (40 working hours) preparing an opinion on a particular matter, taking breaks and being distracted by other issues, whereas the same work would appear in our invoice as just 5 hours.
There is therefore no reason to be afraid of hourly billing. Moreover, in the vast majority of cases we can determine the scope of work following a preliminary analysis of the matter and agree on the cost with the client in advance.
It all depends on the matter the client brings to us. If it is a preliminary legal consultation on a question that does not require additional review of documents, specific legislation or case law, the consultation fee is based solely on the time spent communicating with the client. In some situations we may provide a legal consultation free of charge.
If, however, the matter requires further study or involves the preparation of a written opinion, the price is determined on the basis of the time actually spent examining the issue and preparing the relevant opinion. The cost of such a consultation may be agreed upon in advance.
3. How much does it cost to handle my court case?
Of course, every court case is different, so a reasonably accurate assessment of the scope of work can only be made after a preliminary analysis of the matter.
That said, based on our experience, the average scope of work for a commercial or administrative case in a court of first instance in Dnipro is 8–12 hours, which corresponds to an equivalent of USD 520–780.
If the court proceedings take place in another city in Ukraine, only travel expenses are charged additionally.
The prices for legal services at our firm are comparable to those of other well-known law firms in Dnipro, as well as to the fees of privately practising attorneys in the areas of commercial, administrative and criminal law.
We do have a certain advantage over individual practitioners, as our team of professionals includes lawyers and attorneys who are each specialists in their respective fields of law. Together we know and can do significantly more than any single attorney, however skilled, and we are always able to approach an issue from multiple angles and provide a more objective assessment of all opportunities and risks.
When comparing our fees to those of law firms and attorneys in Kyiv, our prices are substantially lower — the hourly rate for a Kyiv-based attorney typically starts at €100, while at leading law firms €200–300 per hour is considered standard.
Our firm’s services are generally paid upon completion, based on the price agreed in the contract. For certain types of services we may agree with the client on the payment of an advance.
6. Can I recover my legal costs from the opposing party in a court case?
Yes. Ukrainian law provides the possibility of recovering legal costs incurred during court proceedings from the opposing party in the event of a successful outcome. We actively make use of this mechanism in order to reduce our clients’ expenditure on legal assistance.
7. Do you offer discounts, and how can the cost of your firm's services be reduced?
The hourly rate of a lawyer or attorney at our firm can be significantly reduced compared to the base rates set out below by entering into a legal retainer agreement. The discount and pricing depend on the number of hours of work included in the monthly volume. In accordance with our policy, the term of such an agreement must be no less than one year.