If you have ever wondered why one lawyer in Spain quotes a completely different price than another for what sounds like the same case, there is a simple reason: lawyers in Spain have full freedom to set their own professional fees.
A lawyer can choose to charge an hourly rate, a fixed fee, a variable fee tied to the result or the work done, a percentage fee, or some mix of these. Some lawyers and firms instead charge a fixed monthly fee that excludes certain types of work.
The amount a lawyer charges depends on things like their experience, their specialty, how complex your case is, how much time they expect it to take, what is at stake, and the sums of money involved.
Whatever the structure, the lawyer must set out the fees clearly in a budget or on the professional order sheet, so you know exactly what you are paying for, how you will pay it, what might change the price, and what expenses are not included. You decide whether to hire that lawyer only once you have seen this budget.
Some clients care more about a lawyer's reputation, recommendations, or specialty than about the price, as long as they can afford it. Others focus more on cost and look for a lawyer who will not charge them too much. Both approaches are reasonable, it depends on what matters most to you.
One more thing worth knowing: under the Law of Professional Associations, professions organized into associations, which includes lawyers, must operate under free competition when it comes to offering services and setting prices, and this is governed by the Law for the Defense of Competition. In practice, this means no collective price recommendations are allowed, not even as a general guide or indicative scale.
