Law Offices of Robert D. Butler: Fee Agreement

Fee Agreement

Legal fees are an important issue to understand when dealing with any legal issue. Many people may be shocked at the quoted fee for services and shy away from conversation about the subject. At the Law Offices of Robert D. Butler we encourage free and open discussion about fees and appropriate fee agreements for your representation in either the criminal or civil arena. Remember, in most cases you are simply paying for time. The decision as to how much attention you want paid to your legal issue depends on how much time you want to pay for. Discounted or cheap rates usually mean either your case will not be handled individually with personal attention, (working cases in bulk via a legal assistant can be cheaper) or your case will not receive the many necessary hours of preparation and research to most effectively advocate your position. The Law Offices of Robert D. Butler prides itself in offering personal and individual attention to every client, at affordable rates. If the Law Offices of Robert D. Butler cannot be sure of personal service, the case is turned away to another office.

Fee agreements and fee arrangements come in the following formats:

	Non-refundable
	Hourly
	Contingent

Which of these formats is used depends on the type of case and is discussed in the next sections.

Criminal Cases:

The rules do not allow for an attorney to undertake criminal representation on a contingent fee agreement. The Law Offices of Robert D. Butler charges a non-refundable retainer at a rate that experience indicates will be required to sufficiently cover the hours that will be needed to efficiently and effectively defend any given charge. Payment must be made up front, at the time that the attorney is hired. The retainer fee is agreed upon by the client and the attorney based on the nature of the charge, after some discussion as to the relevant facts of the case. Cases that go to trial will be more expensive since they require more time.

On rare occasions The Law Offices of Robert D. Butler will undertake a case without receiving the full fee up front. Payment plans are difficult to work out and are discouraged since they take time away from the criminal defense as time has to be spent on collection issues.

Civil Cases:

Hourly fee agreements are utilized frequently in civil cases. The client is expected to deposit funds into trust and from there the legal work is performed and billed at the end of the month with the goal of having sufficient funds previously deposited into trust to cover all work done on the client's behalf. Hourly fee agreements work well because they allow the client to have some control in how much attention their case receives in any given month.

Contingent fee agreement are the most popular fee agreements from the client's standpoint since the client does not pay for attorney time on a monthly basis but only pays for costs as they are incurred until the case is settled. Then the attorney is paid with a percentage of any final financial outcome. Contingent fee agreements can vary in percentage but usually range between 25% - 45% of the outcome.

Since Contingent fee agreements are the most risky for the attorney,the Law Offices of Robert D. Butler accepts only select cases for this type of agreement.

In General:

All fee agreements are negotiable. The client and the attorney should be able to discuss specifics if any questions arise. A good fee agreement for a case is one where both parties are happy and feel it is fair.

Consultation fees:

The Law Offices of Robert D. Butler does not charge a consultation fee for criminal cases. The usual free consult lasts 15-30 minutes, depending on the case, and can often be efficiently handled by phone. For employment related cases, due to the volume of calls and limited time during the work week, a charge of $200.00 is required for an hour consult. Both consults, criminal and civil, are no obligation consultations, which means you are not required to hire the office and the office is not required to undertake your representation at the conclusion of the consultation time.

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Law Offices of Robert D. Butler

by Robert D. Butler

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