Contrary to what some lawyers would try to have clients believe, it is entirely possible to obtain the highest-quality international legal representation at a reasonable cost, allowing businesses and States to spend their finite resources on core activities rather than on legal fees, if legal representatives are selected wisely. Aceris Law’s goal is to do everything that is in our clients’ interests, which includes ensuring that each client receives exceptional value for its legal expenditures for unparalleled arbitration legal representation.
The primary complaint regarding international arbitration, as found by the Queen Mary University of London International Arbitration Survey, and many other surveys over the years, has long been its cost. By far the largest cost element of international arbitration is legal fees, which Aceris Law was designed to address by offering leading international arbitration legal representation at a reasonable and transparent cost.
Despite our numerous successes for past clients, we will always offer cost-effective international arbitration legal representation, which is necessary for international arbitration to remain superior to other forms of international dispute resolution.
Despite our numerous successes for past clients, we will always offer cost-effective international arbitration legal representation, which is necessary for international arbitration to remain superior to other forms of international dispute resolution.
Although our firm’s track record is among the best in the field of international arbitration, our legal fees tend to be one-third the legal fees of the large corporate firms we routinely face (and where our lawyers previously practiced law), since we cap our legal fees for each phase of a dispute and write off all work we do not consider to have been particularly efficient or valuable for our clients. The overall cost of arbitration itself can be significantly reduced, often by half, for our clients.
We can offer unbeatable value because we only hire the best, brightest and most energetic lawyers, we are highly experienced in international arbitration, we make use of the latest technology, we refuse to overcharge clients, we maintain a reasonable cost structure, and we always love a good fight and will not bill for the extra time that is required in order to obtain a positive outcome for each client we represent.
We also know that our legal services will meet or surpass our clients’ demands of quality and performance. Thus, unlike any other law firm of which we are aware, if a client is not entirely convinced that it is receiving the best legal representation available over a three-month trial period, Aceris Law guarantees in its standard letter of engagement to reimburse all legal fees that were paid.
Our fees are straightforward and entirely transparent:
- We do not charge to discuss potential matters.
- We charge a modest, flat fee for the drafting of legal memoranda.
- For claimants, we typically bill on a capped, stage-by-stage basis (with or without a success fee element) for each arbitration.
- For respondents, we also typically bill on a capped, stage-by-stage basis (with or without an uplift element) for each arbitration.
- While we can also bill on a competitive hourly basis, or on a flat monthly basis, this is seldom in a client’s interest given the large number of hours of legal work required for each arbitration and the average duration of arbitration proceedings.
When we bill on a capped, stage-by-stage basis, we only charge for the stages of the arbitration that are ultimately required. We also write off all legal fees for work that exceeds the capped amount for each stage of the arbitration.
If our hourly legal fees do not meet the cap for any stage, then our clients pay less than the capped amount.
If our hourly legal fees do not meet the cap for any stage, then our clients pay less than the capped amount.
Savings for our clients in past, successful international arbitrations have been dramatic. For instance, in a recent ICC international arbitration against a large international corporate firm under English law, where our client won the full value of its USD 20 million claims, opposing counsel’s legal fees were GBP 1,007,284.90, our legal fees were less than one-third this amount, the opponent’s counterclaims of USD 123 million were dismissed and our client was reimbursed nearly all of its costs. Similarly, in a recent LCIA arbitration under Saudi law, opposing counsel’s legal fees were USD 911,379.50, our legal fees were again less than one-third this amount, our client won its claims, the opponent’s counterclaims were rejected, and our client was awarded the vast majority of its costs.
In another recent, successful ICC arbitration in the aviation industry under French law facing one of the world’s leading global law firms, our fees were also less than one-third the fees of opposing counsel. In another recent ICDR arbitration under New York law, where our client was awarded over USD 35 million in compensation and interest, our legal fees were again less than one-third those of opposing counsel. In many additional ICC, LCIA, ICDR, UNCITRAL, ICSID, SIAC, SCC, LMAA and other arbitrations, our legal fees have also paled in comparison to opposing counsel’s legal fees, despite securing outstanding results for our clients.
Multiple arbitral tribunals have remarked that Aceris Law’s legal fees are reasonable in their final awards for our victorious clients.
Multiple arbitral tribunals have remarked that Aceris Law’s legal fees are reasonable in their final awards for our victorious clients.
For instance, in a recent successful arbitration, one arbitral tribunal indicated, “As regards the reasonableness of the Claimant’s legal fees, we find that the amount of legal fees of Aceris Law LLC is, indeed, very reasonable, in light of the complexity, duration and the considerable value of the claims and counterclaims of this Arbitration.” As one criterion taken into account by arbitral tribunals when deciding whether or not to award costs to the winning party is whether the legal fees paid were reasonable, it is unsurprising that many of our clients have been awarded the entirety of the legal fees they incurred in the decision on costs.
We have also successfully assisted clients to obtain third-party funding in the past, for both commercial and investment arbitrations. We are always glad to assist clients to secure third-party funding, at no cost, if we consider the claims in question to be both meritorious and fundable.
