Fee Structure With Lawyers

The fee agreement should set out the services the lawyer will perform for you, as well as the type and amount of fees you will be expected to pay. It should also spell out your obligations as a client e.g., you may agree to be truthful and cooperative, to abide by the agreement, and pay your bills on time, as well as how the court fees and miscellaneous expenses of your case will be handled, explain the lawyer's billing practices, and state whether the lawyer is going to add interest or other charges to unpaid amounts. We should make the fee agreement with your lawyer in the same way that you would make an agreement with a contractor or other businessperson—tell the lawyer what services you will want and ask questions to find out what the charges will be. Few questions you may want to ask include how will the lawyer bill for his or her time, who else will be working on the case—associate lawyer, legal assistant, or paralegal? How will that time be billed, what can be done to reduce fees and costs, what is the lawyer's estimate of the total charges?

Do keep in mind that an estimate is just a ballpark figure on what the fees and costs will be the total amount is subject to change as circumstances change. The attorney may have a pre-printed fee agreement for you to sign, however, you can always ask the lawyer to change parts of the agreement or make up a new one especially for your situation. Except you have a contingency fee agreement, you will probably be billed monthly, if you are paying an hourly fee, you may want the lawyer to get your permission before spending more than a certain amount of time on your case. People have a right to get itemized bills that show how the lawyer has spent time on your case, and to get an itemized list of expenses such as photocopying, telephone calls and travel costs. In fact, a lawyer must provide the itemized bill within 10 days of the date that you request it. And if you think your lawyer's bill contains an error or something you didn't agree to, contact the lawyer immediately and try to resolve the discrepancy, but, if your lawyer's bill is accurate, but you just cannot afford to pay it, contact your lawyer to see if you can make arrangements to pay over time or agree on some other accommodation e.g., asking your lawyer to postpone work temporarily until you can get the bill lower. On the other hand, if you cannot reach an agreement about how to handle the problem, the lawyer may be entitled to stop working on your matter or withdraw as your lawyer.

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