In the last month, a new type of auction site has sprung up. It allows people to post their legal problems on-line, and then solicitors are encouraged to bid for legal work. The new site is called “Bid4Fees”, and it is designed to allow the client to find a solicitor. The clients put up “bid for lawyer” briefs and choose from all the bids submitted. Sounds rational, but it’s pretty obvious that in most cases the lowest bid wins.

Bid4Fees - would you Bid for legal work?

Bid4Fees is controversial. Some say it’s a prostitution of the legal profession, and others just point out that it leads to lawyers fighting to undercut each other. The real problem isn’t about the image of the profession, but is about justice. If you want to find a solicitor who is very good at being cheap, you will end up finding one who is very good at being rushed – and a rushed lawyer is a dangerous thing to have on your side.

The Bid4Fees Team is realistic and have said on other sites (such as here) that they see that the model “might not appeal to everyone” and point out that it is free to register on both sides, and that Instead, they take a 10% cut of any work which is done through the site.

Solicitors charge by the minute, so low money means low attention. If you find a solicitor who is having to bid for legal work, and bid low, it is worth thinking about why they’re on the site looking for low-value work instead of earning money doing work already. They are obviously desperate or have too much time on their hands. Either way, not a great endorsement.

Contentious divorces and dismissals rank high on the list of available jobs. If someone is out of work or about to lose half of their assets, obviously saving money is key. The problem is, if the other side isn’t also on Bid4Fees asking solicitors to bid for legal work, there is a potential imbalance in the profitability of the legal work on both sides. One firm may be charging on a more traditional basis, and presumably turning a modest profit, whilst the successful bidder is now on the hook for potentially a lot of work at a low fee that is likely to be loss-making unless handled in the scantest manner.

What it boils down to is that a solicitor who is having to bid for legal work and is getting paid 90% of an already low amount won’t be recording mattertime for “care and consideration” – they’ll dash off the letters and skim read their replies.

Not knowing any law, the client probably won’t notice the difference in standard between the two sides. It seems to do the job, but the end result might not be the most fair and just that could have been achieved. Not all solicitors are good, and I believe that it is inescapably in the nature of Bid4Fees that those using it are likely to find a solicitor who can’t get work through recommendation or other traditional channels because they are basically er…….not very good.

It’s like buying own-brand milk: low cost and tastes fine in tea, but if you check the packaging afterwards you can’t find the words “cow’s milk” anywhere. If you are going to “bid for a lawyer”, you want to make sure it’s not dog’s milk you’re getting instead.

So if it isn’t conducted very carefully indeed, the Bid4Fees model may compromise the interests of justice to a great degree. Be careful if you’re thinking of putting up a case for lawyers to bid for. Lawyer or not, remember that you get what you pay for.

If this is the future of the legal profession, Justice may just fall on her own sword. She may be blind…but stupid, she ain’t!