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LEGAL FEES OF ATTORNEY & MEDIATOR

TERRELL WILLIAM "TERRY" PROCTOR, J.D.

ATTORNEY'S FEES--METHODS OF LEGAL FEE CHARGES

A number of things go into the determination of whether an attorney will undertake legal representation in a given case, from a client, and the fees and expenses, which the attorney shall charge, on various type of legal work. These include:

• Time on the matter.
• Difficulty of the issues.
• Whether litigation is necessary or not.
• The present caseload and how the new matter will impact on other matters in the office.
• Whether one attorney will handle the matter if additional legal help will be needed.
• The type of work which the attorney will have to expend on the case (drawing papers vs. trial, etc.)
• How knowledgeable the attorney is with the subject matter and law (whether attorney will have to do research or is already familiar with the area of law.
• Whether client is a new client or has used the office before.
• The amount of time required for the attorney to set up the file and get up to speed on what is needed in this matter.
• Expertise of the attorney.
• Whether the case will be handled as an hourly fee case; a flat fee case; a contingency fee case; or a combination of two or more of these.
• Whether the client will be paying fees up front or fee collection is going to be problematical.

At present, legal services in this Office, are provided mainly upon the first two basis shown below:

First, most legal work in our firm, is performed upon an hourly rate plus expenses. At present, Terry Proctor's hourly rate is $200.00/hour, plus the expenses incurred in the matter.

A second common basis for fees, in some personal injury, malpractice and a few other type cases, is a contingency fee, plus expenses. The usual contingency fee in personal injury cases is 1/3rd if the case is settled prior to the filing of suit and 40% after suit is filed. Clients are required in most instances to advance expenses as the case moves along. Very often, Letters of Protection are provided to healthcare providers of the client, in order for them to see and treat the client, without the client having to pay for healthcare expenses up front. This is firm obligation on the part of the client to agree that those bills are paid off the top, after attorney's fees and litigation expenses, and the client cannot revoke such obligation, as the attorney issues a letter to the healthcare provider that the debt will be paid, out of the settlement.

A third basis is a combination, such as in some Deceptive Trade Practice-Consumer Protection Act cases, where there is a minimum fee up front, then the case becomes a contingency fee case. If the case is successful, the minimum fee is deducted at the end, from the contingency fee, to reduce the contingency fee by the amount of the minimum fee paid. The reason for this hybrid form of payment, is that many clients start DTPA cases, then determine that they don't want to proceed, so the firm has to charge a minimum amount to cover some of the initial time on the matter. The client pays expenses, regardless.

Fourth, in criminal defense cases and some other cases, the attorney requires a minimum fee to start with, which is so many hours anticipated time, at a minimum, at the hourly rate, plus expenses. This is done, because of Terry's experience in criminal defense cases, of getting into cases for too little initial payment, and then having to spend considerable time getting off the case with the Court, and never being paid for the time he put in. Once the minimum fee is used up, then the attorney notifies the client of an additional amount required from time to time, as additional time and expense is incurred.The client pays expenses, regardless, but in criminal defense cases, expenses are usually minimal, compared with civil cases.

Fifth, Terry has spent years doing what is called 'pro bono' (which means 'for good' in Latin) cases and reduced fee cases. Terry alone determines when a client is entitled to a pro bono handling or a reduced fee handling of a matter. Unfortunately, Terry has done so much of this kind of work over the years, that it often means little net income at the end of the year. Therefore, the attorney's services for no fee or reduced fee, is very limited.

All clients are expected to pay the out of pocket costs and other expenses in a case. The attorney never pays these sums.

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