Commercial Lawyer Cost Calculator

Understanding commercial lawyer costs in Australia

What commercial lawyers cost in 2026

Commercial legal work in Australia is priced across two models, and most firms use both depending on the task. Hourly rates in 2026 commonly run $350 to $550 for a solicitor, $500 to $750 for a senior associate, and $700 to $1,100 for a partner in a capital city commercial practice. Regional firms typically sit twenty to thirty percent below those bands. On a fixed fee basis, a straightforward contract review with a written advice generally costs $900 to $2,500. A company and trust structure setup with the constitution and deed sits around $2,000 to $4,000 plus government charges. A shareholders agreement for a small business is commonly $3,500 to $8,000. A business sale or purchase of a small to mid sized business typically runs $8,000 to $25,000 in legal fees depending on the deal structure and how much due diligence is involved. Commercial lease negotiation for a tenant is usually $1,500 to $4,000.

When fixed fee works and when it does not

Fixed fees work where the scope is genuinely bounded: incorporating a company, drafting a standard set of terms and conditions, reviewing a lease and producing a report, preparing employment contracts. In those matters a fixed fee shifts efficiency risk to the firm, which is where it belongs. Fixed fees work badly where the other side controls how much work is required. Contract negotiation, due diligence on a business you have not yet inspected, and any dispute all fall into that category, and a firm that quotes a hard fixed fee on them is either padding the number heavily or planning to argue about scope later. The practical middle ground is a fixed fee for defined phases with a written trigger for moving to hourly, for example a fixed fee covering review plus two rounds of markup, then an hourly rate beyond that at a stated rate. Whatever the model, you are entitled to a costs disclosure setting out the estimate and the basis of charging before substantive work starts.

What actually drives the bill

Negotiation intensity is the biggest single variable and the one clients underestimate most. A contract that is reviewed and signed costs a fraction of the same contract argued over five drafts, because each round involves reading the other side's changes, advising on them, redrafting, and often a call. The second driver is deal structure. A share sale requires far more due diligence than an asset sale because the buyer inherits the company's entire history including liabilities that may not appear anywhere in the accounts, while an asset sale requires more work on transferring each individual asset, contract and employee. The third is counterparty behaviour: a well advised counterparty with a commercial approach costs less to deal with than an unadvised one who does not understand what they are being asked to sign, or an aggressive one running a war of attrition. Volume of documents, number of jurisdictions, and regulatory overlays such as franchising, financial services licensing or foreign investment approval all add layers.

Disbursements and government charges

Legal fees are only part of the total. Disbursements in commercial work include ASIC lodgement and registration fees for company formation and changes, searches on the Personal Property Securities Register and registrations on it, company and business name searches, land registry services fees where any interest in land is transferred or a lease is registered, courier and settlement agent costs, and barrister fees where counsel is briefed. In litigation, court filing fees are a distinct and material cost that scales with the court and the amount claimed, and there are separate fees for setting a matter down for hearing. Stamp duty, assessed by the state revenue office on the dutiable value of a transaction, is a government charge that can dwarf every other line on a business sale. None of these are the firm's revenue, but all of them are your money, so ask for an itemised estimate of disbursements alongside the fee estimate.

Disputes and the cost recovery reality

Commercial disputes deserve a separate mental model, because the spend is unpredictable and the recovery is partial. Debt recovery through a letter of demand is cheap, often $400 to $900, and resolves a good proportion of matters. Once proceedings are issued, costs escalate quickly through pleadings, discovery, evidence and interlocutory applications, and a mid sized commercial dispute running to a defended hearing routinely costs six figures on each side. The critical point is that even winning does not make you whole: costs orders in Australian courts are generally assessed on a party and party basis, which commonly returns something in the order of sixty to seventy percent of what you actually spent, and only if the other side can pay. That gap should be built into the decision about whether to litigate, and it is why mediation and negotiated settlement are usually the commercially rational path even in a strong case.

Getting better value from a commercial firm

The clients who spend least are not the ones who negotiate the hourly rate hardest, they are the ones who control scope. Come with the deal already agreed in a term sheet, so the lawyers are documenting a decision rather than making it. Nominate one decision maker so the firm is not reconciling conflicting instructions. Ask for an issues list first and decide which points you actually care about. And ask for interim bills with narrations so you can see a matter running hot while there is time to change direction.

Next steps

Use the estimate above as an opening bracket, then take a one page description of the deal to two firms and ask each for a written scope, an itemised disbursement estimate, and the rates of everyone who will work on the file.