UNDERSTANDING ATTORNEY FEES VERSUS COSTS

In general, there are three types of billing systems that apply to legal cases: hourly, flat fee and contingency fee. Regardless of which fee type applies to a particular case, the client is always fully informed of the billing process before being asked to enter into a fee agreement with our firm.

HOURLY FEES

An attorney's hourly fees are based on the actual amount of time the attorney spends working on any particular issue in a case. For instance, if the attorney researches an area of law and then prepares a legal brief or memorandum on the basis of that research, both the time spent in research and the time spent composing the document will be billed at the hourly rate for that attorney. In hourly fee cases, the attorney keeps track of his or her time and then bills the total amount to the client on a monthly basis. For some hourly fee cases, a retainer is collected by the attorney in advance of the work being performed. The work is then billed against the retainer at the attorney's hourly rate. At the end of the case, if there is any unused portion of the retainer, it is returned to the client.

FLAT FEES

In some circumstances, a case may be fairly simple or have a routine set of forms and procedures which make the case more easily billed as a "flat fee." If a flat fee is applicable in a particular case, that fee will be agreed upon between the attorney and the client prior to any work being performed on the client's case.

CONTINGENCY FEES

Contingency fees are most commonly applied in cases where there is a third party responsible for damages and so there is an expectation of recovery of a settlement, such as is the case with most personal injury cases. In these types of cases, the attorney will generally collect a contingency fee of one-third of the settlement and/or verdict. If there is no recovery, the attorney does not collect any fee.

COSTS

In almost every case, there are costs separate and above the attorneys fees. For example, if you have been involved in an accident, your case costs may consist of those required to obtain copies of your medical records or a copy of the police report. The attorney may front those costs on your behalf. However, the client is still responsible for each cost expended and in the case of contingency agreements, the costs will be deducted from the final settlement or verdict in addition to the attorney fees.