Lawsuits are expensive. Each party in a lawsuit must bear their own attorneys’ fees. In California, parties to litigation should not expect to recover their fees from the opposing party. The average lawsuit takes 2-3 years to resolve. Below is a list of the types of attorney’s fees, along with their benefits and risks.
| FLAT FEE | HOURLY FEE WITH RETAINER | CONTINGENCY FEE | COSTS/EXPENSES |
| *Most common in criminal cases, not generally offered for civil lawsuits | *Most common, often the only option for civil litigation | *Most requested by clients, but far less common (few firms take cases on contingency, only certain cases eligible) | *Required for all lawsuits, paid by the client to legal vendors and court |
| A flat attorney’s fee is a fixed dollar amount paid either once, or over the court of representation in previous specific increments | An hourly rate is the price charged per hour for legal representation. Hourly attorneys require deposit of an initial retainer fee, and bill against your retainer for all time spent on your case. Clients receive a monthly invoice, which the attorneys pay with the retainer funds. The client must replenish the retainer funds upon request for continued representation | A contingency fee is a set percentage paid to the attorney out of case recovery funds by way of settlement, verdict, etc. The contingency fee is paid directly to the attorney if/when a successful financial resolution is obtained for the client. The client typically does not pay upfront or ongoing fees during the litigation, and the attorney becomes entitled to their fee if/when recovery funds are received | Case costs/expenses are required costs that must be paid by all litigants to advance a case (regardless of whether they hire an attorney). Costs are fees charged by the court and legal vendors. Costs are not paid to the attorney, and the attorney does not earn anything from costs. Some attorneys will advance costs for reimbursement by contingency clients. |
| Example: The client pays $25,000.00 to cover representation for the entire case. | Example: $495.00 per hour for Associate Attorneys, $595.00 per hour for Senior Partners, $295.00 per hour for Paralegals, with a $20,000.00 initial retainer | Example: 40% of the total amount recovered for the client by way of settlement, verdict, award, distribution, sale of property, etc., paid at the end of the case when recovery funds are received | Example: Costs vary from case-to-case. Costs may include court filing fees, deposition fees, subpoena fees, court reporter fees, expert witness fees, mediator’s fees, postage. For example, each deposition required a fee of around $3,000.00, paid to the court reporter |
| Pros: Predictable, One-Time Fee | Pros: Client can monitor the fees and decide whether to take actions based on current budget | Pros: No upfront fees, client pays a set percentage for unlimited amount of legal work required to the resolve case, client does not pay attorney if case doesn’t reach financial resolution, low risk for client, attorney might also agree to advance reimbursable costs | Pros: Clients can pay vendors directly, or law firm can pay vendors out of client’s retainer |
| Cons: Very limited availability of flat fee options, mostly restricted to criminal cases | Cons: Client must fund litigation out-of-pocket and pay high and continuous retainer fees. The monthly/ overall amounts are wildly unpredictable as they are dependent on the amount of time and work required. The the overall cost of full lawsuit on hourly basis could be $100,000.00 to $250,000.00 or more depending on length and work required. The client pay need to replenish the retainer in amounts of $5,000.00-$20,000.00 or more per month depending on the amount of legal work required of the attorneys. The client’s feasibility to fund litigation on an hourly basis may be limited and may prevent the attorney from continued representation if/when client runs out of funds to pay for litigation. If the client runs out of money to fund litigation, the client may be stuck with a huge and mounting legal bill, no legal representation, and an unresolved lawsuit | Cons: Overall cost may or may not be higher than hourly fee arrangement, depending on the circumstances and the amount of recovery fund the client eventually receives. Attorney must work years before getting paid, and attorney risks not being paid if the case does not reach financial resolution | Cons: Case Costs can range anywhere from $500.000-$50,000.00 or more. Client feasibility to fund case costs out-of-pocket may be limited. Costs increase as the case gets closer to trial. Mediation, which is typically required in all lawsuits, can cost about $10,000.00, and expert witness review and testimony, if required, can be in the $20,000.00-$50,000.00 range |
Contact a Reliable Lawyer in California
Founding attorneys Stewart Albertson and Keith Davidson at Albertson & Davidson LLP are trial lawyers who focus on trust and estate litigation. Our law firm has offices in San Diego, Carlsbad, Bay Area, Irvine, and Los Angeles. Our firm’s guiding principles are embodied in the statement, “We stand, we fight, we win.” While we cannot guarantee a victory in every case, our clients deserve our best efforts at a successful outcome.
We have dozens of trust contest cases that we are working at any given time. We take cases on a contingency fee basis. That means that you can obtain experienced legal representation without having to pay any upfront costs. We are under a contingency fee arrangement. We receive a payment if we are successful in negotiating a settlement or obtaining a court award in a trust contest case. The payment is a portion of the amount awarded for our legal fee and expenses. Contact us at (877) 637-7234.
We are ready to fight for you.
