The truth about attorney fees

Obtaining an attorney will be necessary to navigate through any legal process due to the amount of red tape that surrounds the legal arena. Also, it is a commonly known fact that the best lawyers charge more money. However, most attorney fees can be broken down into three types of payments that include contractual agreements, billable hours, and contingency fees.

Before any attorney will accept a client, they will request that the person seeking legal advice sign a written contract. This contract will set forth all fees and liabilities incurred by the attorney for a case. In this first step, the lawyer will probably ask for a sum of money to start working on a case.

The billable hours of an attorney are also set forth in the contract. Like most professions, lawyers are paid on a sliding scale based on the number of hours they put into a case. The more time a case consumes, the more money an attorney will make. These fees are non-negotiable once a contract is signed, so it is important to know how much work will go into any legal matter.

Finally, attorneys may charge their clients a variety of contingency fees. These costs are incurred for the processing of legal documents, travel to and from court, and the number of visits or times an attorney is sought for advice. Contingency fees are miscellaneous charges accrued by the client so that an attorney does not have to come out of their own pocket for materials or processing.

Attorney fees can add up pretty quickly. While the attorney is there to help the client, she will also bill every hour that she can while serving as attorney. Attorneys will collect fees on a contractual basis, for billable hours worked and for contingency charges while on a case.