About us and Fees
Brigid Justice services can be used by women:
- who have suffered controlling or abusive behaviours (at any point).
- with an income under $150,000 who cannot access Legal Aid.
- able to pay legal fees or obtain litigation funding (we will usually need a $10,000 deposit for Court matters).
Our fees
You will be provided with a full costs disclosure if you engage our services.
Our fees for a lawyer are on a sliding scale depending on your income and assets:
1. $253/hour (incl GST): income under $110k; parenting only or under $600k property pool
2. $275/hour (incl GST) income over $110k or $660k-$1.5M asset pool
3. $330/hour (incl GST) asset pool $1.5M to $2.5M
4. $385/hour (incl GST) asset pool $2.5M to $4M
5. $495/hour (incl GST) asset pool $4M+
Brigid Justice was established by and for women survivors of domestic abuse. We offer trauma informed, reasonable cost, coherent, and professional legal advice. We engage our clients with social and psychological support. All our staff are trained in trauma informed practice.
Standing strong with you
A bit more about us
Affordability
Legal costs can be incredibly expensive, and way too many women end up paying vast amounts to lawyers, or being forced to accept unsafe parenting arrangements or a bad property settlement. Legal Aid is only available to women on very low incomes, and often even then, a woman can struggle to get help with a property settlement.
Our fees are set as low as possible so that we can run our legal practice and pay our staff the same as government lawyers. Private lawyers charge between $450 and $880/hour, and most will charge their clients for every minute of time. Most of our clients end up paying around half what they would pay a private lawyer.
Our legal services include everything family law, but also we can help with most other legal issues you have (or refer you to another lawyer who can help). We can take action against abusers to return your money, property or pets, or pay for damaged property, and, where possible, to compensate you for injuries, defamation, trespass, and invasion of privacy.
Misidentification is a big problem - where Police charge the victim of abuse. Police can also be slow to act to protect victims. We provide advocacy for our clients with the Police, and criminal representation if needed.
Trauma informed practice means you can expect to be treated with kindness and respect. We won't tell you what you 'have to do' but give you the information and support you need to make your own decisions in your own time.
Affordability is created by:
Brigid Justice's charitable status (which reduces our costs).
Remote firm - all our lawyers work from home.
Barristers who reduce their fees for our clients
Extensive use of technology and efficient processes.
Refusing to engage in pointless 'wars of letters' with other lawyers.
Not charging clients for every email, phone call & texts.
Discounting our bills.
Funding Brigid Justice currently receives no funding from government or philanthropists, and run our practice entirely on client fees.
Mercy Foundation litigation fund. The Mercy Foundation provided us with $50,000 to provide litigation funding to women at risk of homelessness in obtaining their property settlement. We have assisted 8 women with this fund to date (who repay the money when they get their property settlement).
