10/30/2020
Question Everything - Especially Your Legal Fees
There are significant questions about how attorneys' legal fees are earned and paid. The are also confusions with law firms' requirement of a retainer. Many law firms, ours included, will require a retainer. A retainer is necessary, particularly with a new client, to ensure that the lawyer’s time will be compensated.
With retainers, you should know that until the legal fee is earned (i.e. the work performed) the money remains that of the client. As lawyers, we are required to maintain trust accounts to hold that money. With retainers, some lawyers require that the initial amount of the retainer remains intact. In other words, the full amount of the retainer must be replenished as soon as legal fees are earned by the lawyer. Other lawyers require that a base of a retainer always be maintained.
As it relates to invoices, what you receive from your lawyer should have sufficient information for you to understand the work performed and the charges incurred. If you have questions, you should raise them asap.
Billing is typically done on the basis of time. For example, at KR Law Firm, we typically bill by hour. On occasion, depending on the nature of the work, we will bill based upon a particular project or scope of work. A good example of this is the formation of a corporation or providing the client with a written legal opinion. Typically, we do that on a flat legal fee.
The discussions concerning fees can be uncomfortable. However, recall that your lawyer should work for you. As such, you should ask questions about how you are being billed and make sure that you fully understand the billing policies of your lawyer.
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