Legal fees in Mauritius
CITIZEN CONSULT offers its Clients various payment arrangements adapted to their situation.
For any information regarding the payment of your fees, please contact us directly.
Billing Terms
Fees, which correspond to the Firm’s remuneration for the work carried out on your matter, are discussed transparently from the first appointment. They are determined in accordance with the applicable legal and/or professional principles, mainly according to the nature of our involvement, the complexity of the matter, the volume of work required, the level of technical expertise needed, and the degree of urgency of the Client’s situation.
Initial Consultation
The initial consultation is a key step in handling a matter. It is the first time the client meets their legal advisor, and vice versa. It is often during this meeting that the trust on which the entire relationship is built begins to develop.
It is also a valuable opportunity to identify the issues, understand the challenges, and define an appropriate strategy together.
Meetings can be held in person, via video conference or by telephone. In all cases, they are prepared in advance to ensure maximum efficiency and followed up afterwards, in particular through the preparation of the engagement letter.
Fee Structures
Except in specific cases, Citizen Consult prioritizes fixed fee arrangements or, at a minimum, billing based on time spent with a precise estimate. This allows clients to know in advance exactly what the fees will be.
Fixed fees also offer the advantage of covering all services defined in the fee agreement, including regular exchanges between the client and their legal advisor.
Hourly Billing
Success Fees
In contentious matters, including international arbitration, a success fee is generally added to the fixed fee. This success fee corresponds to a percentage of the gains obtained or savings achieved as a result of a favourable court decision. The Firm applies this additional billing arrangement in two types of matters:
those for which the financial stakes are lower, in order to balance the amount of the fixed fee against the stakes of the matter; or
those involving particular complexity or uncertainty, in order to reflect the successful outcome of a difficult and/or significant decision.
The rate applied is always moderate.
We never base our remuneration exclusively on success fees (as so-called quota litis arrangements are prohibited). However, the portion represented by such success fees—always secondary—may be adjusted for certain foreign clients accustomed to “no win, no fee” arrangements.
Legal Framework
Any mandate entrusted to Citizen Consult will be defined in a confidential engagement letter, which will constitute the fee agreement.
In advisory matters, the letter of engagement summarises the background of the matter, the reasons why the Client instructed the Firm, and precisely what the Client expects from it. For example: drafting a legal opinion on the restructuring of a group, incorporating a company, or negotiating a commercial lease agreement.
In litigation matters, this document outlines the background of the dispute, defines the contentious situation, and sets out potential solutions that the lawyer may pursue to resolve the dispute, whether amicably and/or before the courts.
For all matters, the fee agreement sets out the methods for calculating fees, in accordance with the arrangements described above, as well as the treatment of costs and expenses advanced by the firm in the client’s interest.
Fees are determined according to the nature of the assignment, whether it involves international taxation, company formation, wealth structuring or international arbitration.