Hourly Rates
Perth’s planning and environment law practices are typically housed in one of three types of firms: the large international/national firm, the “mid-tier” firm and the smaller ‘low cost” firm. In the majority of practice areas in all markets pricing is generally linked to firm type with strong correlation between firm size and upper-level pricing. Despite three bands of pricing evident in the table below this link between firm size and price is not generally the case in the WA planning and environment legal market with firm size or type not generally a strong indicator of pricing level.
Perth Planning & Environment Partner Pricing (Hourly Rates)
| Hourly Rate | Market Share |
|---|---|
| $350 - $400 | 5% |
| $400 - $450 | 7% |
| $450 - $500 | 29% |
| $500 - $550 | 12% |
| $550 - $600 | 9% |
| $600 - $650 | 24% |
| $650 - $700 | 0% |
| $700 - $750 | 13% |
Alternative Pricing
Perth’s planning and environment lawyers commendably sit at the forefront nationally when it comes to the use of alternative pricing with some 89% of individuals noting its use in the past 12 months. Unfortunately there’s limited innovation in the use of such with fixed fee being the most common method adopted (87%) and capped fees (67%) sitting close behind. 20% of individuals had used retainer-style arrangements and a surprisingly low 13% used performance or outcome based fees.