Typical expenses in a case include: Copies and faxes. This is because some cases involve a large amount of documents as well as staff time to make copies and send faxes. Standard postage costs are commonly charged to the client. Courier fees.
If documents must be delivered by courier, these fees are charged to the client. Expert or consultant fees. Your case may require the expertise of another professional to best advocate for your position. In injury cases, these often include doctors, accident reconstructionists, and safety experts. Filing fees. Judges are former lawyers who often take a pay cut when they leave the business of law.
To be sure, some judges will identify with the lawyers. Others will recall their greedy former colleagues and be inclined to favor the client. Most will simply preside over the case without prejudice to either side. In either case, the client is ordinarily entitled to receive his money back if the lawyer has charged an unreasonable fee.
Where money has been advanced in anticipation of future services, the lawyer is usually required to keep the money in a client trust account. The trust account money is considered property of the client in most jurisdictions. Client trust accounts raise ethical headaches for lawyers. If a fee dispute arises over money held in trust, lawyers should freeze the disputed funds in the trust account pending resolution of the dispute.
These are tough rules to follow for a cash-strapped lawyer, and many ethical complaints arise out of the handling of client trust accounts.
Just remember that it is your money unless and until legitimately earned by your lawyer. As for cases where the client has already paid in full, the client can seek a refund if facts coming to light after the payment lead the client to believe that the fee was unreasonable.
The client will probably not be able to obtain a refund if 1 the client had awareness of relevant facts and paid his lawyer, or 2 the applicable statute of limitations has expired. A lawyer is ordinarily not permitted to profit from unethical conduct that harms his client. If the ethical transgression is slight or not related to the fees charged to the client, courts are less likely to order a forfeiture of fees. Where the transgression is serious and has a closer nexus to the fees, partial or total forfeiture is likely.
Many state bar associations now provide fee arbitration that streamlines the entire process so that the parties can obtain a judgment without the tremendous expenditure of time normally associated with commercial litigation. The program is voluntary for clients but mandatory for lawyers. Both sides have an opportunity to file a lawsuit after the bar association panel renders a decision.
These arbitration programs can save legal fees since discovery and motion practice are virtually nonexistent. Therefore, in cases where a relatively small amount is in dispute, the bar-sponsored arbitration programs provide the best way for a client to contest a fee. Ten points for clients to consider: The Retention Letter Or Agreement Cannot Be Used To Justify An Unreasonable Fee Lawyers will often refer to agreements they have with clients, typically drafted by the lawyer at the beginning of the engagement, as evidence that a client agreed to certain payment terms.
Courts Have Invalidated Many Methods Of Attorney Billing In Recent Years While a summary of the law surrounding legal fees is well beyond the scope of this article, a steady stream of state and federal court decisions in recent years have invalidated certain billing practices that are still relatively common. Some examples of billing practices often found to be improper: Overhead, administrative charges, and clerical services. Based on the foregoing analysis, we conclude that an attorney must give the client a copy of significant documents throughout the course of the attorney's representation whether or not the client has paid for them.
Any provision in a fee agreement to the contrary is void as contrary to public policy. The attorney's recourse is to recover the copying charges after the representation terminates if the fee agreement authorizes them and the client fails to pay them.
See, Rule , Discussion. See, Vapnek, P. It is advisory only and is not binding upon any member of the SDCBA, any other member of the State Bar of California, the State Bar of California or its Board of Governors, or any persons or tribunals charged with regulatory responsibilities. Why Join? Reasons to Join Members-Only Benefits! Ethics Opinon ISSUE May an attorney condition delivery of copies of significant documents in the client's file to the client on the client's prior payment of the copying expense when the representation has not been terminated?
Rule provides: A member shall keep a client informed about significant developments relating to the employment or representation, including promptly complying with reasonable requests for information and copies of significant documents when necessary to keep the client so informed.
A cheaper attorney who is passionate about your case might be your best pet. A contingency fee can be a bad idea. A lawyer who offers to take your case on a contingency fee gets paid if you win only—but it isn't necessarily a good deal. From your point of view, a contingency fee is a good deal when the attorney must take a significant risk, but not so much when little risk is involved—unless you agree on a much lower percentage, of course.
Avoid security interests. Steer clear of any lawyer who proposes securing the right to collect a fee with a deed of trust or mortgage on your house, or who wants you to pledge other property to pay fees should you lose the case.
These agreements aren't legal in most states. Preparing a Written Fee Agreement Most disputes between lawyers and clients are over money—specifically, over how much money the client owes the lawyer. A written agreement should include: Retainer.
If you must pay a deposit in advance often called a "retainer" , the contract should state the retainer amount and when you must replenish it. Hourly fee. The agreement should state the hourly rates for everyone who might work on the case; how often the lawyer will bill you; how much detail the bill will include; how long you have to pay the bill; discounts for early payment; penalties for late payment; and how to dispute a charge. Contingency fee.
In a contingency fee case, the lawyer takes a percentage of the client's winnings. The agreement should state the contingency percentage some lawyers collect a higher amount if the case goes to trial and the collection process. Costs of suit. The agreement should also explain how litigation costs—such as court fees, fees charged by expert witnesses, private investigators, process servers or stenographers, copying costs, travel expenses, or messenger fees—will get paid.
A lawyer in a contingency fee case might agree to front costs and get reimbursed if the client wins, but a client who loses has to pay costs back to the lawyer.
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