If an in-house lawyer costs $100 an hour, a law firm will charge $600 for the same level of professional.
A good Victorian Legal Aid lawyer can represent someone in the Magistrates Court at a cost of a couple of hundred bucks. A private lawyer might charge $5,000 for the same work.
Law firms are sales-focused and driven by budgets. Once they find a good trough to plant their noses in, you can't pry they out with a crow bar. They will "gouge". "gold plate" and "fully service" until the well is dry.