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I realize the amount
of fees (and costs) will be important to you and legal services
can be costly. I make every effort to maintain our fee schedules
at a competitive rate, considering all applicable factors (such
as complexity of the matter, experience, qualifications, and so
forth).
I urge you not to make
your decision concerning which attorney or law firm to hire solely
based on the billing rate which you will be charged. Attorney fees
often increase with the attorney's experience level; that is, the
longer an attorney has practiced, the higher his or her fees may
be. However, even though an attorney might charge a higher rate,
that attorney - due to the increased experience - may accomplish
the work more efficiently and, thus, still charge you less than
a lower-priced attorney with less experience.
Basically, I charge fees
in one of three manners, as described briefly below:
Hourly:
Historically, attorneys
have charged for services on an hourly rate. Each hour, or partial
hour, is charged at the hourly rate. Clients have typically complained
that hourly billing results in being charged for a simple telephone
call and in the attorney having no incentive to work efficiently.
Although hourly billing can be used properly, I do feel the risk
in this arrangement unrealistically lies with the client. Therefore,
while the client may be offered some services on an hourly basis,
most work is done on the fixed fee basis, described below.
The Court governs fees
in Conservatorship and Guardianship matters and Courts prefer
fees to be hourly. All attorney fees must be approved by the Court
and cannot be paid from the conservatee's or ward's estate until
such approval has been obtained. (For more information on Conservatorships
and the expenses for this type of work, go to Conservatorship
section.)
Statutory:
Certain matters involve
fees established by statute. The best example is probate matters.
By law in California, fees for the attorney for the personal representative
and for the personal representative are set by statute, based
on the value of the estate. (For more information on Probate matters,
go to the Estate Administration section.)
Fixed:
Partially in answer
to the problems mentioned above regarding hourly billing, the
legal profession has responded by increasingly using "fixed" or
"flat fee" billing. In this arrangement, the attorney commits
to perform the necessary services for a specified sum.
Just as a physician cannot
diagnose accurately an ailment you describe over the telephone,
an attorney cannot determine exactly what legal services you might
need until a thorough review and analysis of your situation. Without
that determination, an accurate estimate of the fee cannot be made.
Therefore, once we meet and review your circumstances, I will provide
you with an estimate of the work which will be required and, upon
mutual agreement, we will arrive at a fixed fee for the work to
be done.
A warning about "value-added"
and "percentage" billing: Some attorneys have started employing
another form of billing arrangement about which you should have
some information. I think this form of billing is inappropriate
and is not in the client's best interest. Under the value-added
or percentage arrangement, the attorney charges based on the amount
of money or property involved in the case, not the amount of time
involved. While factors other than time expended could provide a
valid basis for charging fees, I am not convinced the amount of
money involved is such a factor.
The best example of an
analogous situation is how realtors charge for their services. Most
realtors charge a commission of six per cent (6%) of the sales price
for the property. While the commission is sometimes negotiable,
it is fairly standard industry-wide. An example of how percentage
billing might be employed in the Elder Law context would be for
me to determine the amount of property owned by a client wishing
to obtain MediCal benefits for his or her spouse. If the parties
own $450,000.00 in assets, I might charge a five per cent (5%) fee,
which would amount to $22,500.00. This exceeds by a considerable
amount the fee I would expect to be charged by competent, experienced
Elder Law attorneys with experience similar to mine.
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