Often I'm asked, "how much do you charge?" And that seemingly simple question
requires a complicated answer, because to be honest it depends on all kinds of things including what do you
want me to do, how soon do you need it, what kind of payment arrangement do you want, and how much am I responsible for.
I can explain that in detail if you like, but ultimately it comes done to this: you are paying me to take responsibility for
the stress and complication of a problem, and what I charge is proportionate to the nature of the responsibility.
Before I go into price, I have a few questions for you:
1) Is there anything else you want to know me other than price?
If the answer is yes, send me an e-mail and ask. I will gladly tell you anything
you need to know about my qualifications.
2) Is there anything other than price that right now would prevent you from hiring me.
If there is, then a discussion of price is premature. If you want to give me an opportunity
to address your concern, send me an e-mail and together we'll see if we can resolve the matter.
So, I guess we've reached the point where you just have to say "Tom you're great,
I want you to be my attorney, but now I need to know if I can afford you."
Of course you can afford me, I work with you to make my services affordable. Multiple fee
options are available, including but not limited to hourly, contingency, flat rate, and combinations of the prior stated
methods.
Additionally, arrangements can be made for legal coaching, document preparation only, limited representation, and,
of course, for those with extensive legal work, for volume discounts.
Finally, depending on the type of matter, I
can provide services with a pre-paid discount, on a payment plan, or on a secured deed. Lets discuss how
we can make my services affordable to you.
So, you still want to ask the question... "what do you charge?" Ok, if you want a general guideline,
I charge $225 an hour for pre-trial services and $275 an hour for trial services for generic
contested litigation matters that are non-contingent. When appropriate I use law clerks, paralegals, financial analysts, and
other support contractors to handle some types of work, and I charge a fee for their services corresponding to their
proportional cost to me.
You might be asking "how did you come up with that hourly rate?"
Well, I factored several things... including but not limited to "salary", health insurance, retirement, infrastructure, overhead,
risk, "profit", float time (for example the time between when I do the work, the time I send the bill, and the time
the client actually pays me), and a cushion factor for when things unexpectedly go wrong (like when the printer breaks
down and I have to pay an assistant overtime to drive to Kinkos in the middle of a Saturday night to make copies).
A frequently asked question is: "Will you give me a discount if I pre-pay
or hire you for more then one case?" The answer is Yes and Yes. For clients who prepay for services I
will reduce my hourly rate to $200 an hour for pre-trial services and $250 for Trial Services as prepaid
services are a benefit to me, I pass that benefit to you. I also give discounts for multiple concurrent litigation
matters. For future cases, I will give you a discount off the then active rate.
Another frequently asked question is: "Will you do this on a contingency/deferred
fee basis?" This answer is maybe. Each case is different, and each case is charged differently. However, because
my payment is contingent and deferred, I charge a premium hourly rate of $350 an hour on hourly matters to reflect the
risks that I take in taking the case such a basis. In some cases I charge a percentage of recovery. And in some cases
I charge a hybrid of hourly and percentage. It depends on the case. The fee agreement that pertains to your specific
case will be described in detail in the office and you will have a chance to review it before you sign.
That said, I 've provided a small list of routine flat fee services and the fee I charge below:
