It's Over. Now What?
The attorney-client relationship has a limited lifespan. Generally, it is a project-based temporary business relationship, albeit a fiduciary one. Whether the representation is short or long, transactional or litigation based, it must someday end. It may end with settlement or a verdict in litigation, it may end at the completion of a transaction, or it may end in the middle.
November 05, 2018 at 02:35 PM
10 minute read
The attorney-client relationship has a limited lifespan. Generally, it is a project-based temporary business relationship, albeit a fiduciary one.
Whether the representation is short or long, transactional or litigation based, it must someday end. It may end with settlement or a verdict in litigation, it may end at the completion of a transaction, or it may end in the middle.
It is sadly not the end of a relationship which usually results in tension, negotiation or litigation, it's a question of attorney fees. Depending on the format of those fees, whether hourly, contingent, flat or hybrid, the question of fees either presages or creates the end of the attorney-client relationship. Even when the relationship ends because the work is truly finished, there may be a dispute over fees. Disputes over fees consistently occupy a large amount of attorney time and are governed by some well understood principals.
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