Most of our general business and litigation work is done on a traditional hourly fee basis. We provide a detailed bill of our time and expenses each month.
In some instances with our business clients who have a regular need for our services, a monthly retainer can be used. We will discuss your needs with you and, if it makes sense for you, we can agree on a flat monthly fee that will include all of the work we do for you other than extraordinary matters that arise. This can work well for clients by evening out fees over the year and establishing in advance what their legal costs will be. It also works well for clients for whom we provide general counsel services but who do not yet need a full time in house attorney. Periodically, we will re-examine the fee to see that it still works for both you and us.
For estate planning, we will prepare and oversee implementation of an estate plan on a fixed fee basis, with one-half payment being due when we start work and the balance due upon completion of the plan. The fee for the plan depends on what documents are included and how complex it is. For probates, we normally charge the statutory fees, which are payable at the end of estate administration after approval by the court.