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What a lawyer costs in Casablanca
Fees are unregulated in Morocco. That does not make them unpredictable: here are the ways lawyers bill, the ranges actually seen, and what a fee agreement should contain.
Lawyers' fees are not set by a scale: they are negotiated. Many clients do not dare raise the subject at the first appointment, and later find themselves with a bill they had not reckoned on. It is an ordinary conversation, and a serious firm opens it itself.
The four ways of billing
- **Per consultation**: a flat amount for an appointment spent analysing the matter, often credited back afterwards if you go on to instruct the firm
- **Fixed fee**: a set amount for a defined piece of work — setting up a company, a full social-court case from start to finish
- **Time spent**: an hourly rate, used in advisory work and in business matters, which presupposes an itemised record of the work done
- **On the outcome**: a percentage of the sums recovered, which can never make up the whole of what the firm is paid
The ranges seen in Casablanca
Collected in October 2026 from published scales and common practice. They vary a great deal with how long the firm has been established and how complex the case is:
- Consultation: 300 to 1 500 dirhams per session
- Setting up a company: 3 000 to 12 000 dirhams per matter
- A full social-court case: 5 000 to 20 000 dirhams
- Outcome fee: 10 to 20 % of the sums recovered
What the fee agreement must say
Ask for it in writing before the proceedings are started. It is as much in your interest as the firm's, and it should set out:
- The exact scope of the work, and what falls outside it
- How the fee is calculated, and the amount or the rate
- Who bears the disbursements: stamp duties, experts, bailiff, travel
- What happens on appeal, which counts as a fresh piece of work
- The payment arrangements, and any initial payment on account
What pushes the bill up without warning
Disbursements are not the same thing as fees. A court-appointed expert report, service of documents by a bailiff or a sworn translation are each paid for separately, and can come to several thousand dirhams. Have them estimated from the start.
The first appointment
Turn up with the complete file and a written timeline of events. A lawyer who spends the session piecing dates together bills you for that time. One page of timeline and a folder in order cut the bill and sharpen the analysis.
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