Island lawyers ‘costliest in world’ ¬ª News ¬ª This Is Jersey.
HOURLY rates charged by Jersey lawyers are ‘the most expensive on the planet’, according to a survey published this week.
On average, the rates levied by Jersey firms — with partners charged between £475 and £525 an hour — made them more costly than those of top City of London firms, says the survey.
There has, of course, been the standard Jersey rebuttal, but let's ignore that because evidence, as we know, is something Jersey has serious problems with, and let's instead consider this established fact.
Why is it that Jersey lawyers are the most expensive in the world? What is their added value when,by definition, nothing happens in Jersey? That, after all, is the nature of offshore.
Could it be that this is the price for 'turning a blind eye'? Exercising what Senator Carl Levin calls the 'MEGO principle' (my eyes glaze over)?
Or is it less subtle than that? Is this the fee you have to charge to live with a bad conscience?
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“Why is it that Jersey lawyers are the most expensive in the world? What is their added value when,by definition, nothing happens in Jersey?”
If anything this is a temporary phenomenon. Jersey lawyers generally come from the UK pool of lawyers, so their rates are usually linked to but slightly lower than London financial rates, say about 75-80%, whereas NY lawyer rates are usually about 85-90% of London rates and continental European rates are usually about 50-70% of London rates.
But NY and London’s business is mostly in new issues, M&A, whereas Jersey’s legal work will be primarily in funds management. Business in London and NY is down considerably with hourly rates far below where they were a few years ago, with less of a fall in Jersey because a smaller proportion of their billing comes from transactional business.
Law firms dealing with tax planning in Zurich make that Jersey fee rate seem like lunch money.
Accounting firms and barristers in London dealing with corporate tax planning and tax litigation also charge far more. Some experts at Big 4 firms used to charge over £900/hr, and some leading tax QC’s have been reputed to take home over £2m/year.
Richard – have you ever worked offshore? If not, I think you lack the necessary experience to make a claim like that. If so, you were clearly working for an organisation with low standards of compliance. Any review of Jersey’s jurisprudence in the trust arena will demonstrate that things do “happen” offshore.
Cheap shot Richard, cheap shot.
@Alex
Mark, Alex
You seem to comparing the Maximum (or nearly maximum) rates in Zurich with the Average rates in Jersey.
@Colman Stephenson
Yes, that is true, but I wouldn’t expect to see much difference in rates between Jersey lawyers because most of their work will be quite functional. You might pay more at some firms because they have oak panels in their meeting rooms and better biscuits, but otherwise it is hard to distinguish the best firms from each other.
On the other hand companies in London will often pay a premium for the best known legal advisers, so the very best lawyers, who are in demand can charge a significant premium.