In family law, fees are typically broken down into several different categories. The most common is a situation where the client puts a certain amount of money into a trust account held in that client’s name which is administered by the law firm. The attorney performs work and creates an invoice for the work performed on a regular basis.  This fee arrangement is followed by most attorneys who practice in the area of family law. The benefit of this arrangement is that it ensures the client that he or she is only charged for work which is performed. In more complex matters such as family law cases, it typically makes sense for a client to pay money into a trust and be billed against that amount on a regular basis. The most frequent complaint of this fee arrangement is uncertainty.  Clients do not know how much, ultimately, they will pay for the prosecution of their claims.  Clients tire of continued requests by their attorneys to deposit more money into the trust account.  Attorney’s, as well, tire of having to ask the client to replenish the trust account.  No matter how successful the efforts of the attorney in representing the client, no one is ever happy with making continued payments.

A less popular or recognized fee option in family law cases is the flat fee.  A flat fee is the payment of a specific fee for a specific service. This type of fee is growing in popularity but like the trust arrangement, also has benefits and shortcomings. The benefit of a flat fee arrangement is that the client is assured he or she will pay nothing more than the actual fee quoted by the attorney for the particular service provided.  Many clients are completely satisfied with the idea that they will have to pay nothing further for the services performed. The shortcomings of a flat fee arrangement, is that the client may actually pay more money to the attorney than would have been owed under a trust arrangement.  That is, a client may be quoted a $5,000.00 flat fee to perform service X. Although the attorney performs service X for the client, the attorney’s actual time in accomplishing the service may amount far less than $5,000.00.  Another shortcoming of a flat fee arrangement is that the attorney is often required to create a very detailed fee contract with the client dictating what is and what is not covered by the flat fee. In family law it is particularly difficult to state that only one type of service will be required for a client. For example, a client may hire a lawyer under a flat fee arrangement to obtain a simple divorce. However, upon filing a simple divorce complaint on behalf of the client, the attorney may then receive correspondence or a responsive pleading from the opposing party seeking custody or child support. Although the client has not paid for any services other than the simple divorce, the client may be concerned that he or she is being taken advantage of by the attorney when the attorney asks for additional fees to handle the additional issues. Finally, a concern of a flat fee arrangement is that the attorney is motivated to resolve the case with as little effort or time as possible. Many clients worry that this translates into the attorney resolving his or her claim without as much fight or vigor as they would have in a trust arrangement. Sadly, a common marketing technique of proponents of the flat fee arrangement is that a qualified lawyer should be able to quote the client an accurate flat fee for the outset. The problem with this statement is obvious. As explained above, every case is different. To assume an attorney can quote an accurate flat fee is to assume that attorney has a crystal ball and can see into the future.

At Hatcher Law Group we are willing to discuss a variety of fee arrangements. Every situation is different and dictates what type of fee arrangement is acceptable. Although a majority of our clients prefer the trust arrangement, we are willing to discuss flat fee arrangements as well. Flat fee arrangements can be discouraging to a client from the outset because the fees may seem overwhelming large. The reason for such a large quote is due to the uncertainty of what awaits the attorney. An attorney does not want to quote a flat fee of $5,000.00 to perform a service only to learn that $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 worth of work is actually required.  The key to a successful fee arrangement is communication and frank, realistic discussions about what will be involved in a client’s case. We require a fee contract be entered into by the client and the firm before any work is performed on behalf of the client. This fee contract is very thorough and specifies the services to be performed by the attorney as well as the compensation to be paid by the client. Such a fee contract allows the attorney and the client to discuss the arrangement in detail and address any questions the client may have. Further, it helps avoid any misunderstanding in the future about compensation.

At Hatcher Law Group we rarely quote fees over the telephone or internet. Without knowing the facts of a client’s case we believe we are doing them a disservice to simply quote a fee that may be inaccurate. Instead, we prefer to meet with all potential clients in an initial consultation setting. At that consultation, we simply charge the client at the attorney’s hourly rate for the time spent with the client. Nothing more and nothing less. We believe this is the fairest way to account for our services and for the client to compensate us.