We generally have three different types of fee agreements. 

  1) Flat Fee- a flat fee agreement is a "fixed" fee agreement. The fee represents the total attorney fee for the entirety of the case, but does not include the cost of the trial. There may be other out of pocket expenses (generally, under $100 each case) but the attorney's fees are fixed, regardless of whether you have 3 court appearances or 13 court appearances. A hearing could be scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m., but we may not have your case called until 2:30 p.m. In a flat fee case, that 'wasted time' is not something you will be billed for.

  2) Hourly Fee- Under an hourly fee agreement, the client makes a financial deposit towards their fees. We call this a retainer. As the Attorney works on the case, he tracks and bills his time against the retainer amount in intervals. If the cost of the attorney's fees exceeds the retainer amount, the client will have to deposit additional funds. If the attorney's fees to not reach the amount of the retainer, any excess funds will be returned to the client. As in the example above, however, all of the attorney's time is tracked and billed for. This can include, but is not limited to; telephone calls, reviewing documents, traveling to/from court, waiting for court, responding to and drafting correspondence, etc.

   3) Contingent Fee- This is limited to personal injury cases only. Our fees are measured by a percentage of the settlement of your case. If no settlement is reached, we get no attorney fee. We would be entitled to have a client pay our out-of-pocket costs, regardless of whether a settlement is reached or not.

Our fees are typically determined after talking to a prospective client. Our charges are not solely a function of the hours of work performed. The charges also take into account other factors, including the novelty and difficulty of the questions posed by the client’s case and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly; the fact that undertaking the client’s case will preclude me and, possibly, others in my firm, from accepting other cases; the results that a client hopes to achieve; the time limitations imposed by the client or by the circumstances; the nature and length of our professional relationship and my experience, reputation, and ability, as well as that of this firm, its attorneys and staff.

Absolutely as soon as possible! Depending upon the nature of your case there may be a limited to secure important evidence about your case. Text messges and video evidence may be lost if not secured in a very short period of time. Even if you are under investigation for a crime, an attorney can assist you through the entire process. Whether or not to talk to the police. How to handle the media. How to protect yourself and your family. Many clients who have hired us immediately have benefited by having reduced charges filed, or in some case, never even charged!

You want to find an attorney that has an excellent track record. Google and other reviews may be helpful, but do not rely solely on them. Talk to the Attorney. What steps do they take to communicate with clients? How many trials have they had in the last 12 months. This is important as prosecutors know who the attorneys are that are willing to take a case to trial. If you have an attorney who does not have trial experience, the prosecutor is less likely to make their best plea offer. So, even if you have no interest in going to trial, you need an experienced trial attorney to represent you.