Personal Injury and Tort Claims

• Serious bodily injury and wrongful death claims
• Accidents involving trucks, buses, autos, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians
• Sexual harassment, discrimination and wrongful termination
• Assault, battery and sexual battery
• Dog and other animal attacks
• Injuries from dangerous products
• Police misconduct and civil rights abuses
• Elder abuse and hospital and nursing home negligence
• Property damage insurance claims arising from earthquake, flood, fire and theft
  

General Business Law

I help business owners start-up and properly maintain their companies, negotiate leases and contracts, protect intellectual property and generally run a healthy shop.

• Entity selection & dissolution - organizing and dissolving corporations, partnerships and LLCs
• Preparing and abandoning fictitious business names (DBAs)
• Protecting against trade secret theft and intellectual property (Copyright & Trademark) infringement
• Health care practice transactions (contracts regarding practice sale & management)
• Qualification of foreign corporations doing business in California
• Internet law and web site development contracts
• Business buy-sell agreements, contract preparation and lease review
  

Methods and Rates

Free Initial Consultation. I offer prospective injury clients free initial consultations. I sometimes offer non-injury prospective clients free initial consultations by arrangement, but I generally charge $100 for initial consultations.

Written Representation Agreements. With few exceptions, I confirm most representations in writing so my client and I each know our respective duties and rights. Written fee agreements also serve the purpose of meeting certain California legal requirements. For example, in cases where a contingency fee will be charged or when I expect fees and costs will exceed $1,000, the law requires fee agreements to have certain written terms.

Invoicing Methods. My invoices, sent out monthly in most non-contingency fee cases, are easily auditable with clear explanations of the work done, the time spent, the date work was performed, credits, current and prior charges and - when applicable - a showing of attorney-client trust account activity.

An attorney-client trust account is basically a special bank account into which clients' money is deposited. Legal fees and costs such as court filing fees, deposition transcript charges, etc. would then be withdrawn from the trust account as earned or as the costs are incurred. Funds left in trust at the conclusion of the matter would be returned to the client.

TYPES OF FEE ARRANGEMENTS. My fees are fixed, in stages, hourly, retainer, contingency, modified or statutory. I discuss each type below. The type of fee applied in a given case depends on factors such as the type of case, the complexity and risk of the issues and the likelihood that I will have to turn away other business to take on a particular case. I also consider my level of experience, prevailing market fees and the nature of the client (charities may get fee preferences over businesses, for example).

Fixed Fee. I try to give a fixed fee quotation whenever possible. I use this fee most often for routine legal matters such wills, trusts, simple contracts, consumer bankruptcies or certain criminal matters. I make sure my clients knows what's included.

Fee in Stages. This type of fee is best for cases that don't quite fit into the fixed fee scenario because the work will probably be more involved - like in certain criminal defense matters.

For example, in a drunk driving case there may be one fee for the first few appearances in court so that I could discover the state's evidence against my client, discuss possible dispositions with the prosecutor, etc. An additional fee may then be charged for the next stage of the proceedings such as trial.

Another example might be a lawsuit where I would charge a certain fee to answer a complaint and send out some discovery, then an additional fee to depose the adversary, additional fees for motions and an additional fee to try the case.

Hourly Fee. This is a straightforward method of billing whereby I charge for all time I spend on a case (I tend to use my computer billing software's "no charge" feature fairly often, though). When possible I try to estimate how much a total bill will be based on the client's stated budget and how aggressively the client wants me to pursue the case, but sometimes it is very difficult to offer an accurate estimate due to many factors - the complexity of the area of law involved, how aggressively the other side fights, a change in circumstances, etc. My clients can, however, count on me to charge an ethical fee for quality work reasonably necessary to carefully, effectively accomplish client objectives while not cutting corners.

My hourly fees take into consideration the circumstances at hand including a matter's complexity, risk and opportunity cost (i.e. whether I will have to turn away other work to dedicate sufficient time to the matter). Clients and I would, of course, agree in writing on the actual fee to be charged before commencement of the representation.

Retainer Fee. A "retainer" means different things to different people. Here is what it means to me: a monthly fee I charge to a business client to make sure I am available when you need me for certain kinds of work; I bill whether or not the client uses me for that month; remember, I would have to turn down other cases in order to remain "on call." The fee varies depending on what is expected from me. Certain kinds of legal work would be covered by the retainer fee while other legal services would be billed separately.

There are three principal reasons a business would want to consider a retainer arrangement:

1. Savings - Efficient use of a retainer plan can result in excellent value;
2. Availability - When your business needs help, you have it; and
3. Risk Management - I've seen too many expensive, terribly stressful disasters that could have been easily averted with a little advance legal planning.
   

If you think your business would benefit by using a retainer arrangement, contact me to discuss the possibilities.

Contingency Fee. This kind of arrangement means I will charge a certain percentage of any money I recover for you; if there is no recovery, there is no fee (though you will remain responsible for costs). I use contingency fees most often in accident injury cases or other cases where we are suing someone for money. Of course, contingency fees are not suited to criminal cases, most lawsuit defense matters and other cases where the client is seeking something other than money (a judgment determining ownership in the title to land, for instance).

Contingency fees in injury matters are commonly one-third to 40%, and 25% to 50% in collection cases. The relatively high percentage built-in to contingency fees is designed to provide lawyers with a hedge against the risk of taking these cases on a "no recovery/no fee" basis while at the same time offering consumers affordable legal services. While some people may believe contingency fees seem high, it is important to remember that contingency fee arrangements offer an alternative to hourly or flat fees that many consumers simply cannot afford.

Modified Fee. This kind of fee is some combination of the other fees, usually a reduced hourly or flat fee in combination with a reduced contingency fee. This type of fee is best suited for cases that are too risky to be handled on a straight contingency fee.

Statutory Fee. In most kinds of legal cases, clients and lawyers are free to agree on fees. The fees in certain types of legal work, however, are set by law. For example, California probate attorneys can charge a sliding scale fee with a certain percentage of the first X amount of the probate, then a lower percentage of the next Y amount of the estate probated, and so on. A similar rule exists for fees in medical malpractice cases. For certain other legal problems, the court either sets or must approve the fee to be paid.