Guidelines for Negotiating Your Lawyer’s Contract Use these guidelines while negotiating your lawyer’s contract to establish an agreement that works best for you.

Review the lawyer’s proposed contract to confirm the following information is correctly stated:

1. The name of the lawyer or lawyers who will be working on your case
2. The hourly billing rates for:
   • The lawyer
   • Associate lawyer
   • Paralegals
   • Law clerks
   • Legal secretaries
   • Librarians
   • Filing clerks
   • Messengers
3. An explanation of your lawyer’s minimum billing practices (e.g.,10 hours for any task performed)
4. The charges for:
   • Photocopies
   • Facsimiles
   • Postage
   • E-mails
5. If a retainer fee is required:
   • The amount of the retainer
   • Any minimum retainer balance requirements
   • The retainer will be refunded if unused
   • The retainer will be deposited into a trust account
   • The retainer will be applied to future billing
6. If someone else is paying the lawyer on your behalf, the lawyer’s professional and ethical obligations are owed to you and the lawyer will not disclose information about your case to the person paying your bills without your prior consent
7. The methods of payment accepted by the lawyer including credit cards, installment plans, third party payments or any other arrangement you negotiate
8. The lawyer will provide you with monthly billing statements that identify the date and time of services billed and detail the services performed
9. Time spent negotiating your contract, discussing bills or addressing problems with the lawyer’s services is not billable to you
10. If the lawyer is being hired for a fixed fee, an explanation of the services covered by the fee
11. Copies of all documents and correspondence will be provided to you as soon possible, via the method you select (e.g., U.S. mail, facsimile or e-mail)
12. The lawyer will not hire any experts in the case without your prior written approval
13. The lawyer will give opinions and recommendations for accomplishing your goals but you will make the final decisions about how to proceed
14. Any fee disputes will be submitted to non-binding mediation or arbitration before any court action is taken
15. Explanations about how the contract may be terminated, case files obtained, and any unused retainer balance refunded

Review the lawyer’s proposed contract and make sure it doesn’t include any terms you’re unwilling to accept.

Examples of terms commonly rejected include:

1. A non-refundable retainer fee
2. The retainer fee is a "base fee" that must be paid before the lawyer will take a case and does not cover the cost of any services
3. The lawyer may "round up" or "round off" his bills in any increments
4. The lawyer will bill minimum periods of time for tasks performed regardless of the actual performance time (e.g., 30 hours for any telephone calls, 50 hours for reading correspondence, 4 hours for court appearances, etc.)
5. The lawyer’s fees will be secured by a lien on your home or your other assets
6. The lawyer, without prior approval, may hire experts whose fees shall be paid by the client
7. The lawyer will make final decisions in the case, including whether or not a case will be settled, taken to trial or handled in any other manner
8. The lawyer may terminate the contract at any time for any reason without any liability

Give considerable thought to each contract term.

Make sure the terms adequately protect you, the proposed client. If you’re uncomfortable about any of terms, ask that changes can be made. If the lawyer is unwilling to negotiate changes, decide if you’re willing to accept the contract terms or find another lawyer. Be true to your needs and budget.

This article is not legal advice. You should consult an attorney if you have legal questions that relate to your specific divorce.

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