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Attorneys have the ability to vary how they bill their clients and in which kind of cases they will make special arrangements for, if necessary. Knowing what their options are can help you decide if and how you can afford to pursue a lawsuit.
Different fees afford different types of billing and they really depend on the law firm and what their policies are for the most part. Six different types of fees are used by most attorneys.
A retainer fee is the fee which detains an attorney for legal counsel. With this fee, the attorney is certain of the seriousness of your intentions and can take your case to heart. This is the most traditional method of billing clients. Both unearned and earned retainer fees may be charged. The unearned type is a sum of money which the client provides to the attorney who places it in a trust. This money is drawn upon as the attorney works and billing hours are incurred. Then it becomes a cash advance retainer. An earned retainer is one which belongs to the attorney when the payment is made and funds become immediately available to the law firm for costs incurred. Earned retainers may be pure, case or retainers for general representation.
The pure retainer is one which is a sum of money which the client pays to the lawyer or law firm to be certain the attorney will be available to the client throughout the year and that the law office will not accept any clients with cases that are adversarial. A case retainer is a nonrefundable fee that a client pays to a law office as an inducement for legal work to be performed for the client. What this really means is that the client is offering additional money to entice the attorney to take the case. And a retainer for general representation is one which is paid in contemplation of everything, such as ongoing representation, except for the actual litigation which occurs.
A contingency fee is another method of billing which gives the attorney a percentage of the award granted in the case and if the client loses then the attorney receives no payment. Personal injury cases usually involve contingency fees. But these fees do not cover court costs, transcription fees or filing fees as the client is responsible for these additional costs. Both domestic relation matters and criminal cases are forbidden to operate on a contingency fee arrangement.
A flat or fixed fee is one which allots a set dollar amount that the client is charged for legal services provided. An hourly fee is a method of billing for all time actually spent on the case and legal problem at hand. Hourly rates may come as attorney hourly rates, client hourly rates or blended hourly rates which combines fees for everyone into one hourly rate.
Court-awarded fees are those in which attorneys are given a set amount determined by the courts, usually when counsel is appointed by someone who cannot afford legal counsel themselves.
However billing methods are chosen there are usually ways to work it out for the benefit of both attorney and client.
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