No part of a lawyer’s practice is more troublesome, annoying, and disconcerting than the invariable legal fee dispute. It happens to virtually every practicing lawyer. The client has a right to be charged only reasonable fees but more often than not, that depends upon in what context the client finds himself. If the client has lost, is about to lose, or is not making progress in the litigation and paid substantial fees to that point in time, what seemed to appear to be a reasonable hourly rate to the client when he executed the retainer letter or what seemed reasonable earlier on when he received and paid bills on a regular basis is converted by the client and his new lawyer to excessive and unconscionable billing.
How does the lawyer or law firm or more significantly the law protect the lawyer and the firm if they acted honorably and charged only reasonable fees that the client not only agreed to and accepted but paid in whole or in part? The simple answer is for lawyers to bill at a reasonable hourly rate; make and maintain accurate time records, itemize their bills, and present them to the client on a timely and regular basis. If this is done, while not an absolute safety net, the lawyer gets an insurance policy that she does not have to pay for by means of an account stated.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
