Fees & Engagement Agreement

The legal fees charged and the way they are calculated should be appropriate for the nature of the work and the needs of the client.  My fee is typically based on my current hourly billing rate of $195 per hour.  Legal reviews are charged at a discounted hourly rate of $175.

I am committed to a flexible approach to my fee arrangements with clients and have successfully used alternative fee arrangements.  Some alternative fee arrangements are better suited to certain types of work but not others.  I am willing to discuss alternate fee arrangements and trying to establish a mutually beneficial arrangement tailored to your needs.  This may include one of the following:  monthly retainer, hourly fee with a “not to exceed” maximum for a specific project or parts of the work within a project, discounted hourly rate for agreed projects, discounted fees with a success incentive payment dependent on completion of a transaction. 

Becoming a client: lawyers are encouraged to have written fee agreements with their clients – this seems extremely logical since most lawyers will advise their clients to have written agreements for their business relationships too.  Until we have entered into a written engagement agreement by both signing the document, we have not established a lawyer-client relationship and I am not your lawyer. 

My standard fee agreement provides for hourly fees and a retainer which is an advance of fees and costs paid to me before work begins on your matters and which is kept in a separate client trust account as security for the costs I will incur and for payment of your fees.  The amount of the retainer is determined based on the nature of the work and the expected costs to be incurred.  It is typically equal to or greater than one month's fees plus the estimated costs associated with completing your work.