Ministry of Justice, Fee Charging Procedure Rules

Promulgated: March 19 2004
Effective: May 1 2004

Main contents: The Rules stipulate that the items, standard and method of fee charging by law firms shall comply with the Administration of Charges for Lawyers' Services Tentative Procedures and relevant provisions on charges for lawyers' services formulated by departments in charge of pricing of the relevant province, autonomous region or municipality, or judicial administrative authorities (Article 2). Fees for services provided shall be uniformly collected by the law firm and lawyers shall not collect any fees from the client privately (Article 5). Disbursements paid by the law firm such as evaluation and translation fees on behalf of clients shall be settled with the client only upon production of valid receipts (Article 13). Subject to the approval of the relevant department, a law firm may set up a designated account for storage of contractual funds and performance bonds, etc. on behalf of the client. Article 20 states that any dispute over fee charging between a law firm and its client shall be settled by consultation, failing which either the lawyers association at the locality may be invited to mediate or a lawsuit may be filed with the people's court.
Related legislation: Administration of Charges for Lawyers' Services Tentative Procedures, Mar 3 1997