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Conveyancing

What the section 150 notice covers.

Every solicitor in Ireland has to give you a written notice of legal costs before starting work. It is the single most useful document you will get from us, and most people file it without reading it.

Tuesday 8 September 2026 / Siobhán Moriarty, Principal solicitor / 5 minutes
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Where the obligation comes from

Section 150 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 replaced the older section 68 letter. It requires a solicitor to provide a written notice of legal costs to a client as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving instructions. It applies to every kind of work, from a will to a High Court action.

It is not optional and it is not a formality. A firm that has not given you one has not complied with its own regulatory obligation.

What must be in it

The notice has to be in plain language and it has to cover the amount of the legal costs, or if that cannot be given, the basis on which they will be calculated. Alongside that it must deal with the outlays, with VAT, and with any circumstances in which you might have to pay another party's costs or might recover costs from another party.

The four parts, in order

The professional fee, or how it is calculatedSet by the firm
The outlays we expect to pay out for youSet by others
VAT on the professional fee23%
The cost risk if the matter is contestedExplained in the notice

Three lines worth reading twice

First, whether the fee is a fixed figure or an hourly rate. If it is hourly, look for the estimate of hours as well as the rate, because a rate on its own tells you nothing about the total.

Second, what is excluded. A conveyancing quote may exclude a voluntary transfer element, a family law quote may exclude counsel's fees, and a litigation quote almost always excludes the other side's costs.

Third, when payment is due. On a purchase this is usually out of the closing funds. On other work it may be on delivery of the bill, or at stages.

If the figure changes

Where something happens that makes the original notice materially inaccurate, the solicitor has to give you an updated one. A defect in title, a management company that will not produce accounts, or a straightforward matter that turns contested are all examples. The point of the rule is that the revision reaches you when it happens, not with the final bill.

If you disagree with a bill

Raise it with the firm first, in writing, and ask for a breakdown against the notice you were given. If that does not resolve it, a bill of costs can be referred to the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators for adjudication, and a complaint about costs can be made to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority.

This note is general information about Irish law and procedure at the date shown above. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not make Finnegan Maguire Solicitors your solicitors. If you want advice on your own matter, ring 0818 44 55 66.