Fees
How we charge
Three arrangements, chosen to fit the work rather than the other way round. Whichever applies, you are told the basis and the cost before anything begins.
Recommended · Retainer
Keep us on retainer
A fixed monthly fee for continuing access to your lawyers. It is how most of our clients end up working with us, and it is the arrangement we recommend to any business with regular filings, contracts or staff.
Compliance handled continuously stops being a series of emergencies. Deadlines are met because someone is watching them, not because somebody remembered. Contracts are reviewed before they are signed rather than after they go wrong. And when something does go wrong, the person you call already knows your business, your structure and your history — which is most of the cost of any first instruction, paid once instead of every time.
That is the practical case. The commercial one is simpler: a business that is not firefighting its own compliance is a business that can spend its attention on growing.
What a retainer typically covers
- Day-to-day legal questions, answered without a new instruction each time
- Contract drafting and review as they arise
- Statutory filings and the calendar that governs them
- Employment and HR matters as they come up
- Regulatory correspondence and routine liaison
- First response when something urgent lands
Scope is agreed in writing before it starts. Work outside it — litigation, a transaction, anything substantial — is quoted separately so a retainer never becomes an open-ended commitment on either side.
The other two
Where a retainer is not the right fit
Flat rate
One agreed price for work with a defined scope.
Used where the work is known in advance and can be priced with confidence — company incorporation, a branch or liaison office, a trademark filing, a set of employment contracts, a licence application. You know the cost before we start and it does not move unless the scope does.
Suits a one-off piece of work with a clear beginning and end.
Hourly rate
Charged for the time the matter actually takes.
Used where the extent of the work genuinely cannot be known at the outset — litigation, arbitration, a contested negotiation, a due diligence exercise whose findings determine its own scope. Rates are set per person and agreed before work begins, and we tell you when a matter is running beyond what we estimated rather than after.
Suits contentious or open-ended work.
Applies to all three
Tax and costs
VAT at 15%
Our professional fees are subject to VAT at 15%.
Tax deducted at source
A withholding entity may deduct TDS from our professional fees. Bangladeshi taxation law applies throughout, and we account for it accordingly.
Government and miscellaneous costs
Registration fees, stamp duty, filing charges and any other statutory or miscellaneous cost is paid by the client and sits outside our fee. We have no connection with those charges and we do not mark them up — what the authority charges is what you pay.
Common questions
How does Tuhin & Partners charge for legal work?
Three ways. A flat rate for work with a defined scope, such as company incorporation or a trademark filing. An hourly rate where the extent of the work cannot be known in advance, such as litigation or a complex negotiation. A monthly retainer for ongoing advice and compliance, which is the arrangement most of our clients settle into.
Is VAT charged on legal fees in Bangladesh?
Yes. Professional fees carry VAT at 15%. A withholding entity may deduct tax at source from professional fees, and Bangladeshi taxation law applies throughout.
Are government fees included in the quoted price?
No. Government charges, registration fees, stamp duty and other statutory or miscellaneous costs are paid by the client and are separate from our professional fee. We have no connection with those charges and do not mark them up.
What is a legal retainer and how does it work?
A retainer is a fixed monthly fee for continuing access to your lawyers — day-to-day questions, contract review, filings and deadlines, and someone who already knows your business when something goes wrong. It replaces a series of separate instructions, and separate invoices, with one arrangement.
How do I find out what my matter will cost?
Tell us what you need. We will come back with the arrangement that fits and what it will cost, and say plainly if it is not work we should take on. The first 15 minutes of a consultation are free.
Please note. This page describes how the firm charges. It is not a quotation and does not create a retainer or any other engagement. Terms are agreed in writing before work begins.