Legal Fees

by Toothman, John; Ross, William G.

• ISBN13: 9780890890684
• ISBN10: 0890890684
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Carolina Academic Press

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
About the Authors	xvii
The Business of Law	3	(8)
The Paradox of Legal Fees	3	(2)
Fees: Achilles Heel of the Legal Profession	5	(2)
Legal Fees in Context	7	(4)
Fees Billed to Clients	11	(28)
Financing the Legal Profession	11	(20)
The Attorney-Client Relationship	11	(1)
The Basis of the Relationship	11	(5)
Written Fee Agreements or Billing Policies	16	(6)
In the Absence of an Express Fee Agreement: Quantum Meruit	22	(7)
Fees on Termination of the Lawyer-Client Relationship	29	(2)
Reimbursement of Expenses	31	(6)
Generally	31	(1)
Out-of-Pocket Expenses	32	(1)
Internal Expenses	32	(3)
The Lawyer's Duty to Pass Expenses Through at Cost	35	(1)
The Lawyer's Duty to Manage Expenses	36	(1)
Fee Sharing & Splitting	37	(2)
Improper Billing Practices	39	(44)
Billing Beyond the Pale	39	(2)
Improper Fee Charges	41	(29)
General Billing Infractions	41	(1)
Overhead or Administrative Charges	41	(1)
Forbidden or Illegal Financial Arrangements with Clients	41	(1)
Fees in Excess of Contract	42	(1)
Fees in Excess of Estimates	43	(1)
Hourly Fee Infractions	43	(1)
Billing Discretion or Judgment	43	(1)
Administrative & Non-Professional Time	44	(1)
Clerical Services & Other Overhead	45	(3)
Documentation of Hours & Services Rendered	48	(1)
Adequacy of Time Entry Detail & Cryptic Entries	49	(3)
Prompt, Accurate Time Entry & Bill Padding	52	(1)
Internal Conferences & Other Communications	53	(2)
Mixed, Lumped, or Blocked Time Entries	55	(2)
Rounding Time Entries & Minimum Time Increments	57	(1)
Excessive or Inefficient Time	58	(1)
Delegable Tasks	59	(1)
Double Charges	60	(1)
Long Days	60	(1)
Hourly Rates & Rate Changes	61	(1)
Training Time	62	(1)
Duplication of Effort	63	(2)
Over-Staffing & Staff Turnover	65	(1)
Travel Time	66	(1)
Contingent Fee Infractions	67	(1)
Domestic Relations & Criminal Matters	67	(1)
Contingent Fees in Non-Contingent Circumstances	68	(1)
Excessive Contingent Fees	68	(1)
Unwritten or Ambiguous Contingent Fee Agreements	68	(1)
Alternative Fee Infractions	69	(1)
Quoting an Unrealistic Fee Cap	69	(1)
Improper Expense Charges	70	(2)
Fee Forfeiture	72	(4)
Other Bases for Disallowing or Avoiding Fees	76	(7)
Malpractice Claims	77	(1)
Breach of Agency & Fiduciary Duties	78	(1)
Fraud or Misrepresentation	79	(1)
Breach of Contract	80	(3)
Fee Collection & Fee Disputes	83	(38)
Reasonable Fees, Reasonably Collected	83	(4)
Divorcing Professional Responsibilities from Fee Disputes	84	(1)
Terminating the Lawyer-Client Relationship for Non-Payment	85	(2)
Advance Fee Payments	87	(6)
Practical Fee Advance Considerations and Evergreen Advances	88	(1)
Ethical Restrictions on Fee Advances and Retainers	89	(4)
Formalities of Billing	93	(8)
Bill Timing	93	(1)
Confidentiality of the Legal Bill	94	(4)
Fee Disputes Arising Despite Payment in the Normal Course	98	(1)
Silence May Not Be Acceptance	98	(1)
Oiling the Billing Machine	99	(2)
Fee Collection	101	(6)
Lawyers' Liens	104	(3)
Promissory Notes	107	(1)
Fee Disputes and Their Resolution	107	(14)
Informal Resolution of Fee Disputes	107	(1)
Time Limits on Collecting or Recovering Legal Fees	108	(1)
Statutes of Limitations	108	(3)
Limitations in Ethical Forums and ADR	111	(1)
Limitations on Restitution	112	(1)
Fee Dispute Litigation	113	(2)
The Lawyer's Perspective: Supporting the Claim for Fees and Expenses	115	(1)
The Client's Perspective: Opposing a Fee Claim or Recovering Fees Paid	116	(5)
Fees Paid on a Client's Behalf	121	(16)
Legal Fees Triangle	121	(6)
Managing Fees in the Payment Triangle	127	(10)
Fee Shifting	137	(22)
The American Rule	137	(2)
The Statutory Framework	139	(2)
Determining Whether a Party has Prevailed	141	(2)
Determining the Reasonableness of a Fee	143	(7)
Odd Ducks: Common Funds & Bankruptcy	150	(9)
Common Fund Doctrine	151	(2)
Bankruptcy	153	(6)
Contingent Fees	159	(28)
The Terms of the Controversy	159	(4)
Prohibitions on Contingent Fees	163	(3)
Criminal Cases	163	(1)
Domestic Relations Cases	164	(2)
Prerequisites for Contingent Fee Agreements	166	(14)
There Must be a Contingency	166	(2)
The Agreement Must be in Writing	168	(3)
The Client Must Give Informed Consent	171	(5)
Reasonableness of Contingent Fees	176	(4)
Judicial Construction of Contingent Fee Agreements	180	(3)
Reverse Contingent Fees	183	(2)
Withdrawal or Discharge of Attorney	185	(2)
Integrated Fee & Matter Management	187	(14)
Manage the Forest, Not Just the Trees	187	(4)
Fees In Context	189	(1)
Optimizing Results	190	(1)
Integrated Matter Management	191	(6)
The ``Three Waves'' of Legal Management	192	(3)
The Integrated Management Toolbox	195	(2)
Fee Dispute Resolution	197	(4)
Evaluation & Performance Monitoring	201	(24)
Matter Evaluation	201	(7)
Evaluation in an Imperfect World	203	(2)
Benchmarking Against Similar Matters	205	(1)
Internal Benchmarks	205	(2)
External Benchmarks	207	(1)
Performance Monitoring: Streamlining	208	(4)
Streamlining Strategy & Tactics	208	(3)
Controlling Staff	211	(1)
Performance Monitoring: Warning Signs	212	(3)
Warning Signs at the Selection Threshold	213	(1)
Warning Signs as the Relationship Progresses	213	(2)
Performance Monitoring: Second Opinions & Post-Mortems	215	(2)
Performance Monitoring: Auditing	217	(8)
Legal Bill Reviews	217	(1)
Bill Review Procedures	218	(2)
Bill Review Standards	220	(1)
The Future of Bill Reviewing	221	(1)
Performance Audits	222	(3)
Selecting Lawyers	225	(22)
Act in Haste, Repent in Leisure	225	(10)
Selection Confidentiality	226	(1)
Confirming the Decision Not to Represent the Client	227	(1)
Ethics & Lawyer Selection	228	(1)
Competence	228	(1)
Conflicts of Interest	228	(3)
Declining Representation	231	(1)
Truthfulness Toward Prospective Clients	231	(2)
Selection Strategy	233	(2)
Selection Procedures	235	(12)
Establishing a List of Candidates	236	(1)
Conducting an Audition	237	(1)
Selection/Audition Preliminaries	237	(1)
Preliminary Information to Obtain from the Firms	238	(1)
The Audition Meeting	239	(3)
Suggested Selection Criteria	242	(3)
Post-audition	245	(2)
Hourly Fees & Alternatives	247	(24)
Fees, Glorious Fees	247	(2)
Hourly Fees	249	(9)
Drawbacks of Hourly Fees	249	(1)
Hourly Fee Niches	250	(2)
Setting a Reasonable Hourly Rate	252	(1)
The Lawyer's Approach, in Theory & in Practice	252	(2)
The Client's Approach	254	(2)
Reasonable Rate Factors	256	(2)
Alternatives to Hourly Fees	258	(13)
Implementing Alternatives	259	(1)
Experiment First	259	(1)
Alternative Fee Design	260	(1)
Design Considerations	261	(1)
Specific Alternatives to Consider	262	(5)
Alternatives to Avoid	267	(4)
Retention Agreements	271	(40)
Get It In Writing	271	(14)
Ethics and Retention Agreements	272	(1)
The Peculiar Nature of Client-Lawyer Agreements	272	(2)
Preference for Written Retention Agreements	274	(1)
Onerous Retention Agreements	275	(2)
Client-Friendly Retention Agreements	277	(1)
Other Issues to Address in Writing	278	(2)
Prohibited Terms	280	(1)
Designing a Reasonable Retention Agreement	281	(4)
Consequences of Breaching Retention Terms	285	(1)
Standard Retention Agreement Terms	285	(13)
Alternative Retention Agreement Terms	298	(10)
Contingent Fee Agreements	298	(1)
Practical Considerations in Drafting Contingent Terms	299	(4)
Sample Contingent Terms	303	(3)
Flat, Lump Sum, or Fixed Fee Agreements	306	(1)
Hybrid Alternative Fee Agreements	307	(1)
Changing Retention Agreement Terms & Termination	308	(3)
Budgeting Legal Fees	311	(26)
Practicing Law by the Numbers	311	(8)
The Case for Budgeting	313	(3)
Phantom Budgeting: Subverting the System	316	(2)
Life in the Budgeted Environment	318	(1)
Preparing & Using Budgets	319	(6)
Techniques for Creating a Budget	325	(8)
Budgeting by Compiling Component Tasks	325	(5)
Budgeting by Staff & Time	330	(1)
Budgeting by Benchmark or Comparable Matters	331	(1)
Phased or Horizon Budgeting	332	(1)
Qualifications & Caveats Attached to the Budget	333	(1)
The Budgeting Threshold	334	(1)
Budget Forms & Creation	335	(2)
Billing & Bill Formats	337	(12)
Grist for the Fee Management Mill	337	(1)
Billing for Alternative Fees	338	(1)
Billing for Hourly Fees	339	(6)
Hourly Billing Formats	340	(3)
Task- or Project-Based Coding of Time Entries	343	(2)
Billing for Expenses	345	(4)
Conclusion	349	(2)
Appendix	351	(58)
Federal Fee Shifting Statutes	351	(58)
Index	409