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5 Solo [i] (1997-1998)

handle is hein.journals/sololoi5 and id is 1 raw text is: SUMMER 1997 W OFVol. 5, No. It's OK To Discuss Billing Fee Agreement Considerations So You'd Rather Practice Law than Prepare Bills Protect Yourself from Malpractice Claims Planning Your Retirement? Getting Your Due THE NATIONAL JUDICIA1 ' OCT 2 0 1997 by LawrenceJ. Fox We care about it very much. But just like that other activity that rivets our attention from time to time-sex-we don't like to talk about it very much. It all goes in descending order. We are obsessed with our work; we love to collect for it; we like, more or less, to bill for it; yet we hate to talk to clients about the basis on which we plan to charge for our services. A typical initial client interview will be long on our qualifications and background. Similarly extensive will be the initial evaluation of the client's legal problem. But when the talk turns to billing (if it ever does), the normally articulate lawyer will mumble something about normal hourly rates or whatever and the conversa- tion will quickly shift to more comfortable ground. Yet in acting far too predictably in this aspect of our representation of clients, we are not only lapsing from our ethical responsibilities, but we are also sowing the seeds for fee disputes and collection problems not far down the road. What could be solved with a full, free and frank discussion (or better yet in writing) at the outset, too often deteriorates into feigned or real misunder- standing in which the bene- fit of the doubt will almost always go to the client, at you-know-who's expense. Thus we deive the first and most important ethical rule regarding billing. Make it clear, do it at the beginning, put it in writing, and get the client to acknowledge it. If you do all that, it can be almost anything within reason. The ethical rules say fees must be reasonable, and they provide multiple fac- tors to help determine what reasonable is. Almost any arrangement struck, (continued inside) GENERA PRC ICE SOL AN SMII R SETO MERICA BA ASSOC' IION

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