Couples who wish to divorce will have to fork out ZWL$80 000 towards legal fees according to new tariffs gazetted by the Law Society of Zimbabwe.
The LSZ on Tuesday announced new tariffs premised on what it said were charges paid to lawyers during the US dollar era in 2011.
The fees are with effect from last month.
Under the latest tariff regime, the most senior lawyers will earn up to $17 000 per hour for consultations.
Notable under the new tariffs is that uncontested divorce will cost a plaintiff $50 000 while a defendant will fork out $30 000 for the process to be finalised.
Lawyers with 30 years and more experience will now charge between $10 000 and $17 000 per hour while those who have served the profession for 20 to 29 years will charge anything between $8 750 and $15 500.
Those with 15 to 19 years in the field will be allowed to charge between $7 500 and $13 500 per hour for services rendered while those who have practiced for 10 to 14 years and five to nine years’ will bill $6 250 to $10 500 and $4 250 up to $7 500 per hour respectively.
LSZ executive secretary, Edward Mapara said the new tariffs were arrived at after considering that the country’s economic challenges were hampering the day-to-day survival of lawyers.
“In order to aid you in achieving the above, your society has revised the tariff in a manner that addresses the twin objectives of giving members an opportunity to earn a fair income and also ensuring affordability of legal services. In coming up with the tariff random consultations were done and varied and helpful responses were received from the members consulted,” he said in a statement.
He said the new tariffs are pegged against charges lawyers were charging during the US dollar era in 2011.
“The society notes that it cannot adopt a tariff based on the parallel market rate as it will be deemed illegal. It also realises that the official rate, as it is currently pegged, will lead to absurd outcomes which will result in the impoverishment of members. In order to achieve a somewhat middle of the road approach, it has adopted a tariff premised on the 2011 USD$ tariff converted at the official exchange rate plus a rationalisation percentage,” said Mapara.
