5 Signs You Are Being Undercompensated for Your Legal Support Work

The Problem Nobody Talks About

Across the UK, thousands of people are providing skilled, time-consuming legal support to family members and friends — and receiving little or nothing in return. The problem is rarely discussed openly, because the helper does not want to appear mercenary and the person being helped does not want to feel like a burden. The result is a slow accumulation of resentment that can damage relationships for years.

Here are five signs that you may be in this situation.

Sign 1: You Are Spending More Than 5 Hours Per Week on the Matter

Legal proceedings are time-intensive. If you are spending more than five hours per week reviewing documents, attending meetings, researching issues, or providing guidance, you are providing a substantial professional service — not casual moral support. At a conservative rate of £35/hour, five hours per week over a twelve-month proceeding is worth over £9,000. If that contribution is uncompensated, the imbalance is significant.

Sign 2: The Other Party Has a Solicitor and You Are Effectively Matching Their Work

In contested proceedings, the represented party's solicitor is being paid to prepare, strategise, and respond. If you are doing equivalent work on the other side — reading the same documents, formulating responses, preparing for hearings — you are providing a service of equivalent professional value. The fact that you are doing it out of love rather than commercial obligation does not reduce its worth.

Sign 3: You Have Relevant Professional Experience That Is Being Relied Upon

There is a meaningful difference between providing emotional support and providing skilled professional input. If the person you are helping is relying on your specific knowledge — of legal procedure, of financial analysis, of document review — that knowledge has market value. A paralegal with ten years of family law experience is not simply a sympathetic ear; they are a professional resource.

Sign 4: The Beneficiary Is Making Financial Decisions Based on Your Advice

If the person you are helping is making significant financial decisions — accepting or rejecting settlement offers, deciding whether to contest a will, choosing whether to pursue litigation — based substantially on your analysis and guidance, you are providing advice of real financial consequence. The value of that advice should be reflected in your compensation.

Sign 5: You Feel Resentful, But Have Not Said Anything

Resentment is the clearest signal that an imbalance exists. If you find yourself feeling that your contribution is not being properly recognised — but you have not raised the issue because it feels awkward or inappropriate — that is the sign that the conversation needs to happen. The longer it is delayed, the harder it becomes.

What to Do

The first step is to establish what a fair rate would be. Our UK Legal Professional Rate Calculator produces a personalised, data-backed figure based on your experience, practice area, and location — with the reasoning behind it clearly set out. The second step is to have the conversation, using that figure as a neutral, third-party reference point rather than a personal demand. The third step is to agree it in writing, before any further work is done.

It is not too late to raise the issue even if the work is already underway. A fair retrospective acknowledgement, agreed by both parties, is better than continued resentment.