For most people, having to hire an attorney is not a pleasant experience. The fact is, attorneys, like car & home repairs, come at the most inopportune time.  Usually, we hire an attorney because the "fit is hitting the shan."

Admittedly, a large number of people become shocked by the cost of hiring an attorney to help them in their legal battles, and when the bill comes, the "sticker shock" increases. In most situations, clients charged on an hourly basis get most upset. In any case, I find that most clients get shocked because they feel they’re getting too little value for the cost.

We’ve implemented a policy of trying to use "flat fee" or "unbundled services" in our firm. This means that when you request legal services, we’ll try to "value-price" (that’s a subjective term, isn’t it?), our legal services, and give you a value advantage. We’ll try and give you one price, a flat fee, to help you finalize the litigation process. If you request, we’ll also try to unbundle some of the services or tasks involved, in an effort to give you a "bang-for-your-buck" approach to legal work.

Still though, most people become shocked when they hear, "My fee for this project will be          ." Hearing an actual dollar value affixed to the task often makes people pause. Quite often there’s a slow exhale of air, followed by, "             for this, wow!"

So, why are attorney’s rates so high, even when they’re "value priced?"

First, when we quote a legal fee, it’s because our experience shows that your case is complex (or mildly complex), and will typically require more time than another case. This fact is especially true when we charge an hourly rate. Hourly rate clients pose the most risk to our firm because of the high likelihood that the case will involve more time and resources.

Second, if we decide to take your case and provide representation, that means we’ll be unavailable to represent someone else who may come into our office. Quite simply, if the case you believe is "simple", becomes more complex, then our firm will need to double its efforts to represent you. Therefore, we’ll also lose opportunities elsewhere that might be financially beneficial to our firm.

Third, staff and other office elements cost money, and without your payments and fees we couldn’t provide additional resources.

Finally, we hope, in some cases, our fees will help you seriously consider not pursuing your course of action, or early settlement of the case. Sometimes people ask us to represent them in cases we know are certain to lose, or worse, cost them a lot of money for very little return. So, to be certain we can try to dissuade your thinking, we’ll quote a higher price for flat-fee services, or hourly rate. If you’re willing to pay the fee, then we’re willing to represent you.

The truth is, representing you is as much a business consideration, as it is about "justice and equality." In case you’re interested, I’ve discussed attorneys fees in this post, this post, and this post.