What is Hourly Billing?

The most common way that lawyers charge their clients is through hourly billing. Hourly
billing is used for just about every situation except for personal injury cases and routine
tasks.

How is Hourly Billing Calculated?

The amount an attorney charges per hour is determined by several factors. These factors
include the experience of the lawyer, the complexity of your case, and the average hourly
rate in your community. Also, larger law firms tend to charge more per hour than smaller
firms. Finally, some attorneys charge different rates depending on the task. For example, a
higher hourly rate for court work and a lower rate for research.
It is important to find out exactly what is included in your hourly rate. If other staff, such as
secretaries and paralegals, works on your case, their time may be added. Also, out-of-pocket
expenses and other costs incurred by the attorney are often billed in addition to the hourly
rate.

How Can I Keep the Cost of Hourly Billing Down?

Although lawyers who charge by the hour can be expensive, a few tips can be extremely
helpful:
First, try to save questions and ask as many as possible in as few hours as possible. Unless it
is truly an emergency (youve been arrested or the bank has decided to foreclose), try not to
call every time a question pops into your mind. Attorneys who bill by the hour will often start
a new hour every time he or she has to answer the phone. This might not sound fair to the
client, but a good attorney will often be working on multiple cases, making organization a
problem when multiple clients call at once.
Second, use e-mail when possible and be sure to have as many questions in one e-mail as
possible. The attorney will appreciate not having to make an answer on the spot and the
answers will be more thoroughly researched. Also, charging e-mails by the hour sounds
absurd to most rational humans.
Finally, it is often worthwhile to try to negotiate the hourly price with your lawyer. There may
be some flexibility on the rate, which can save you a good deal of money in the long run.

1440 Broadway Street

10th Floor
Oakland, California 94612
Federal Tax ID: 94-2663290

October 19, 2007

Fireman's Fan Assurance

Janice Queenan
300 Marlborough Way
Novato CA 94009

Fireman's Fan Assurance

Bob Fedora
202 1st Street
Novato CA 94009

Our identifying code for this case FF-WILSON

Invoice number 225

Plaintiff's name:
Insured's name:
Claim number:
Docket (case) number:
Date of loss:
Adjuster's name:
Adjuster's shirt size:
Fee budget:
Cost budget:

Wilson, Louise
Durante, James
407-H-6390005-28-000
12056
October 12, 2004
John Sowle
15-33
$15,000
$1.98

____________________________________________________________

Statement of Services Rendered

____________________________________________________________

Atty

09/24/07 SLC

09/26/07 JSR

09/26/07 LL

09/28/07 JSR

Services rendered

Hours

Amount

Lunch meeting with Julia and Eric to

discuss location of next lunch meeting
(1.1); Telephone conference with
Julia and Eric regarding changing
location of next lunch meeting (.4).

1.5

150.00

Preparation of articles of dissolution

per Elliott's request (.7); Review of
edited articles of dissolution (.4);
Hand delivery of articles of
dissolution; stopped by George &
Walt's Diner on the way (1.3).

2.4

840.00

Edited articles of dissolution for JSR

(.2).

0.2

25.00

Conference with opposing attorney

regarding where he bought his brief
case (.8).

0.8
------Total professional services through 09/30/07
4.9
-------

280.00
------------$1,295.00
-------------

Page

Laurie's Law Firm

October 19, 2007

Fireman's Fan Assurance

Our identifying code for this case FF-WILSON

Invoice number 225

Plaintiff's name:

Wilson, Louise

Summary

Jacob S. L. Rubin
Laurie Leiber
Sarah L. Church

Hours

Rate

Amount

3.20
0.20
1.50

350.00
125.00
100.00

1,120.00
25.00
150.00

Costs advanced

Amount

09/26/07 Photocopy charge

09/26/07 Postage
09/30/07 Golf tees

0.07
0.34
27.00
------------Total advanced costs
$27.41
------------Total current fees and costs
$1,322.41
-------------

Prior balance

$16,977.40

Total amount due and payable

$18,299.81

In shopping for a lawyer, the first thing the usually comes to mind is how much a lawyer
charges. Generally, the professional fees of a lawyer depend on the nature and complexity
of the case, the financial capacity of the client, the extent of work required, among other
factors. The usual legal fee arrangements are: initial consultation fee, fixed retainer, timebased charging, acceptance fee, and contingent fee arrangements.
The initial consultation fee is what you can expect the attorney to bill you for your initial
consultation with him or her. While some lawyers offer free consultation, some charge initial
consultation fees. There are other attorneys who bill on their usual or reduced hourly rate.
There is no standard practice in the Philippines. Hence, the best thing to do before going for
an initial consultation is to call before making the appointment.
The fixed retainer fee is a predetermined fee paid on a lump sum, in advance of any legal
work to be performed. In corporations, for example, a general corporate retainer would
include general corporate services such as drafting minutes and board resolutions,
secretarys certifications, ant the like. There are also specialized retainer fee arrangements

depending on the requirements of the client. It can be expected of course, that in specialized
retainer arrangements, the fixed retainer fees are much higher.
Time-based charging is a fee arrangement where the lawyer bills based on his given
hourly rate. The client is billed based on the actual time spent by the lawyer. At the end of
every billing cycle, which in most cases is on a monthly basis, the lawyer sums up the actual
time he or she spent for your case, doing research, answering your calls, consultations,
meetings, etc. The bill is computed by adding up the total time spent by the attorney
multiplied by the latters given hourly rate. Before entering into such arrangements, you
may want to ask the lawyer for an estimate of how much time it would take to complete the
activity.
The acceptance fee is the fee charged by the lawyer for merely accepting the case. The
rationale behind this is, once the lawyer agrees to act on behalf of a client, he generally
loses the opportunity to handle cases for the opposing party. Thus, a lawyers acceptance of
a case would mean that he is forgoing prospective work for the other party. The acceptance
fee is normally applied in litigation, and coupled with a per stage or per activity type of
billing, where the lawyer divides his professional fees depending on the stage of the
proceedings.
In contingent fee arrangements, the lawyer gets paid only if the legal activity is successful.
In most cases, contingent fee arrangements are utilized by clients who cannot afford the
services of a lawyer. In such case, the lawyer gets to collect a certain portion of the property
or money involved, if he succeeds in the case or activity. Because of the risk of not getting
paid at all, lawyers tend to collect between 30%-50% of whatever the client gets.
In most cases, out-of-pocket expenses such as filing fees, travel expenses, printing etc., are
excluded from such arrangements. Since these expenses are incurred for the benefit of the
client, they are the clients responsibility. Of course, you can always ask for a cap on
expenses.
The person looking for a lawyer must bear in mind that, generally, professional fees are
subject to negotiation. You can even try to negotiate terms of payment, if this is possible.
Let us help you. For further inquiries, you may seek legal assistance by e-mailing us
at info@ndvlaw.com.
Nicolas & De Vega Law Offices is a full service law firm in the Philippines. You may visit us at
the 16th Flr., Suite 1607 AIC Burgundy Empire Tower, ADB Ave., Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig
City, Metro Manila, Philippines. You may also call us at +632 4706126, +632 4706130, +632
4016392.

The type of fee arrangement that you make with your lawyer will have a
significant impact on how much you will pay for the services.Legal fees depend
on several factors, including the amount of time spent on your problem; the
lawyer's ability, experience, and reputation; the novelty and difficulty of the case;
the results obtained; and costs involved. There will be other factors such as the
lawyer's overhead expenses (rent, utilities, office equipment, computers, etc.)
that may effect the fee charged.
There are several common types of fee arrangements used by lawyers:

Consultation Fee: The lawyer may charge a fixed or hourly fee for your
first meeting where you both determine whether the lawyer can assist you. Be
sure to check whether you will be charged for this initial meeting.
Contingency Fees: The lawyer's fee is based on a percentage of the
amount awarded in the case. If you lose the case, the lawyer does not get a
fee, but you will still have to pay expenses. Contingency fee percentages
vary . A one-third fee is common. Some lawyers offer a sliding scale based on
how far along the case has progressed before it is settled. Courts may set a
limit on the amount of a contingency fee a lawyer can receive. This type of fee
arrangement may be charged in personal injury cases, property damage
cases, or other cases where a large amount of money is involved. Lawyers
may also be prohibited from making contingency fee arrangements in certain
kinds of cases such as criminal and child custody matters. Contingency fee
arrangements are typically not available for divorce matters, if you are being
sued, or if you are seeking general legal advice such as the purchase or sale
of a business.
Flat Fees: A lawyer charges a specific, total fee. A flat fee is usually offered
only if your case is relatively simple or routine such as a will or an uncontested
divorce.
Hourly Rate: The lawyer will charge you for each hour (or portion of an
hour) that the lawyer works on your case. Thus, for example, if the lawyer's fee
is $100 per hour and the lawyer works 5 hours, the fee will be $500. This is the
most typical fee arrangement. Some lawyers charge different fees for different
types of work (legal research versus a court appearance). In addition, lawyers
working in large firms typically have different fee scales with more senior
members charging higher fees than young associates or paralegals.
Referral Fee: A lawyer who refers you to another lawyer may ask for a
portion of the total fee you pay for the case. Referral fees may be prohibited
under applicable state codes of professional responsibility unless certain
criteria are met. Just like other fees, the total fee must be reasonable and you
must agree to the arrangement. Your state or local bar association may have
additional information about the appropriateness of a referral fee.

Retainer Fees : The lawyer is paid a set fee, perhaps based on the
lawyer's hourly rate. You can think of a retainer as a "down payment" against
which future costs are billed. The retainer is usually placed in a special
account and the cost of services is deducted from that account as they accrue.
Many retainer fees are non-refundable unless the fee is deemed unreasonable
by a court. A retainer fee can also mean that the lawyer is "on call" to handle
your legal problems over a period of time.Since this type of fee arrangement
can mean several different things, be sure to have the lawyer explain the
retainer fee arrangement in detail.

Statutory Fee: The fees in some cases may be set by statute or a court
may set and approve a fee that you pay. These types of fees may appear in
probate, bankruptcy, or other proceedings.
With all types of fee arrangements you should ask what costs and other
expenses are covered in the fee. Does the fee include the lawyer's overhead and
costs or are those charged separately? How will the costs for staff, such as
secretaries, messengers, or paralegals be charged. In contingency fee
arrangements, make sure to find out whether the lawyer calculates the fee before
or after expenses.

Hourly Rates
Hourly rates are the most common arrangement. Here, the attorney gets
paid an agreed-upon hourly rate for time spent working on all aspects of a
client's case until it is resolved.
The hourly rate depends on each attorney's experience, operating expenses,
and the location of his or her practice. In rural areas and small towns,
lawyers tend to charge less, and fees in the range of $100 to $200 an hour
for an experienced attorney are probably the norm. In major metropolitan
areas, the norm is probably closer to $200 to $400 an hour. Lawyers with
expertise in specialized areas may charge much more.
But consider that cheaper isn't necessarily better. A more expensive lawyer
with a lot of experience may be able to handle a complex problem more
quickly. Also, an experienced attorney will be able to better estimate how
many lawyer hours a particular matter will take to resolve.