1.    Criminal and Family Law:

I charge an earned-upon-receipt retainer and a minimum fee.  Usually, these are the same, but in some cases there may be both.

An earned-upon-receipt retainer means that it is earned in its entirety upon receipt.  This also means that, because it is entirely earned when you give it to me, I am not holding it nor any part of it for you.  However, you have then purchased my time for the number of hours covered by the amount of the retainer at $200 per hour.  For example, a $4,000 retainer would cover up to 20 hours of legal work.

In most cases and unless otherwise agreed, the earned-upon-receipt retainer is also a minimum fee for your case.

2.    Minimum Fees:

In some cases, the minimum fee may be less than the earned-upon-receipt retainer.  Thus, if there is a minimum fee, you may be entitled to a refund of a portion of the retainer if the amount of time doesn’t total the amount of time credited for the earned-upon-receipt retainer.  As an example, if the earned-upon-receipt retainer was $5,000 with a minimum fee of $3,000, and if only 10 hours of time was necessary to resolve your case, $2,000 would be refunded to you, because although the fee for 10 hours @ $200 would be $2,000, the minimum fee was $3,000, so $2,000 of the $5,000 would be refunded.

3.    Contingency Fees:

In personal injury cases, I charge a contingency fee.   This means that I only collect a fee when a settlement is reached.  The fee is usually one-third of the total recovery in your case.  Thus, if you receive $100,000 for your injury, my one-third fee would be $33,000.  Also, in a personal injury case, doctors’ bills, rental car costs and litigation expenses are often incurred.  These also will be paid from your settlement.  However, these liens and expenses come from your settlement proceeds after my contingent fee is deducted.  Thus, if there were $5,000 in expense and liens, you would receive roughly $61,000: $100,000 - $33,000 (fees) - $5,000 (expenses and liens) = $61,000.

4.    Expenses and Costs:

Costs are charged to your account reflecting small expenses incurred by my office on your behalf, i.e., I charge 25¢ per page for copies and faxes, plus actual postage costs. 

Expenses are charged to your account reflecting actual monies expended by my office on your behalf, i.e., filing fees, service fees, deposition fees, etc.

My driving time is also charged at my usual hourly rate.  This is not a separate bill, but charged hourly as part of the time for that court appearance.