Flat Fee Legal Services Agreement
READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. By submitting payment, you, the Client, and DATH PLLC, the Parties to this Agreement will be bound by its terms. The Client is hereby advised that they should make sure they understand this Agreement before submitting payment. Because the practice of law can be complex, this Agreement cannot completely disclose every interpretation of legal concepts. By submitting payment, the Client indicates that they agree to the terms of the Agreement.
PARTIES TO THIS AGREEMENT: This Agreement is entered by and between an attorney of DATH PLLC, the "Attorney," and the Client, the “Client,” collectively referred to as the “Parties.”
LEGAL SERVICES INCLUDED: See email from the Attorney for a description of the limited scope of legal services agreed to by the Parties.
LEGAL SERVICES NOT INCLUDED: The Attorney will not be conducting any due diligence on the information provided by Client but will rely on the information provided to be true and accurate. The Attorney will not be providing any services beyond those listed in the “Legal Services Included” section above.
In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for an attorney normally not employed by DATH PLLC to perform services on behalf of the Client. The Client consents to this backup provision.
It is agreed that the precise listing of Legal Services to be provided sometimes cannot be made. What Legal Services the Attorney will provide will be determined by the usual business practices of the legal community of Washington State.
CONFIDENTIALITY BY ATTORNEY: Unless waived by the Client or impliedly authorized in order for the Attorney to represent the Client or required by law or ethics, the Attorney will keep confidential all matters disclosed by the Client or discovered by the Attorney during the course of representation and, when necessary, will invoke the client-attorney privilege to protect the confidentiality of such matters.
DUTIES OF ATTORNEY TO CLIENT: Attorney is bound by the applicable Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) as promulgated by the Supreme Court of the State of Washington. A copy of the RPC can be viewed at http://wsba.org.
DUTIES OF CLIENT TO ATTORNEY: The Client will be honest and cooperate with the Attorney, informing the Attorney of new developments or changes that could affect the Client's case, in particular any changes in the Client's address, phone number, and/or how to reach the Client. The Client will make any and all payments according to this Agreement on or before the date due.
The Client will not use the services of the Attorney to commit any crime or fraud against any court, tribunal, person or other entity. Such abuse of the services of the Attorney may be a basis for waiver of client-attorney confidentiality.
FEES FOR SERVICES: There is no law that set specific fees for legal services. The Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) mandate that the Attorney's fee will be reasonable.
The Attorney and the Client agree that the Client, in addition to paying costs, will pay the Attorney for services, rendered during regular business hours as follows:
FLAT FEES: Client agrees to pay Attorney the flat fee stated in the email from the Attorney. Client agrees that the flat fee is only for Attorney's services and only for agreed upon services. Client will pay more for additional services and costs. The flat fee is the Attorney’s property upon receipt and will not be placed in a trust account. This flat fee agreement does not alter the Client’s right to terminate the client-attorney relationship and the Client may be entitled to a refund of a portion of the fee if not all the agreed-upon services have been provided.
BILLABLE SERVICES AND BILLING INCREMENT: Billable services include, but are not limited to, research, getting to or from any place, consultation, drafting letters, briefs or any other document, compiling documentation or any other service rendered on behalf of the Client. Unless otherwise noted, all services are billed in increments of one-tenth of an hour, rounded up for each activity to the nearest one tenth of an hour. There is a minimum charge of one-tenth of an hour for any services related to the matter under this Agreement.
CANCELED, LATE OR MISSED APPOINTMENTS: Unless the Client notifies Attorney at least 24 hours before the appointment, the Attorney will charge the Client at least 1 hour for any appointment with attorney that Client canceled, was late to, or did not attend. Billing for canceled, late or missed appointments is in addition to any other fee arrangement between Client and Attorney.
REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS: Client agrees that the regular business hours for the Attorney are 9 AM to 5 PM, Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The Attorney will bill the Client at twice the Attorney's usual hourly rate but not less than $375 per hour for services that are rendered outside of regular business hours. Billing for services outside of regular business hours is in addition to any other fee arrangement between the Client and the Attorney.
COSTS: The Client will pay all "costs" in relationship to the Attorney's legal services under this Agreement. Costs include, but are not limited to, long distance telephone charges, facsimile charges, court filing fees, deposition costs, expert fees and expenses, investigation costs, mileage charges, parking, messenger service fees, photocopying expenses, process server fees and any other related expenses incurred by the Attorney to provide services to the Client. The Client agrees that any cost incurred under $250 may be paid out of their trust account without prior notice to the Client. Those costs will be reflected in the Client’s monthly invoice. The Client will be given notification for costs above $250 before the funds are taken out of the trust account.
ADVANCE FEE DEPOSITS: If required by this Agreement, the Client will pay to the Attorney an advance fee deposit to be applied against the Attorney's fees and costs incurred by the Client or expenses paid by the Attorney on behalf of the Client. As mandated by the RPC, this amount will be deposited in an interest-bearing trust account whose interest is NOT payable to either the Attorney or the Client. If the Client wants to set up a trust account whose interest is payable to the Client, the Attorney will set up such account; however, the Client will bear all costs relating to the setting up and maintenance of such account. If any amount of the Client's retainer is remaining in the trust account at the time of the termination of this Agreement, after attorney's fees and costs have been fully paid, the remaining amount of the retainer will be refunded to the Client.
TRUST BALANCE: If required by this Agreement, until the termination of this Agreement, Client at all times will maintain a credit balance of at least $0 in the Trust account. When notified that additional funds are needed, Client will promptly remit to Attorney sufficient funds to maintain such balance. Attorney can accept late or partial payments, as well as payments marked as "paid in full" or other restrictive endorsements, without losing any of Attorney's rights under this Agreement. In the event that trial is necessary, the Client will make a trust deposit sixty (60) days before the trial date.
PAYMENTS: For hourly fee matters, the Attorney will send the Client a monthly accounting of billable hours spent working on behalf of the Client for the month. The Client agrees to pay monthly bill within fifteen (15) days and may opt to pay Attorney directly, or may authorize the Attorney to transfer the amount due from the Client trust account to the Attorney’s business account. Non-payment of monthly bill may be grounds for a termination of this agreement.
PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY'S FEES OR COSTS BY ANOTHER PARTY: The Client agrees that the Court may order or the opposing parties may agree that another party will pay for part or all of the Attorney's fees or costs or both. Such order or agreement will not change the Client's obligations to the Attorney.
CLIENT'S PROPERTY: Except for the Attorney's work products, the Client's legal file, and the documents therein, are the Client's property. The Attorney will retain the Client's property obtained or generated during the pendency of the legal services rendered. Upon the request by the Client, the Client's property will be promptly released to the Client. If the Client does not accept such property, the Attorney may retain or dispose of such property at the Attorney's reasonable discretion. The Client will pay any storage costs thereof.
SETTLEMENT: If the legal services rendered pertain to a claim, suit, litigation or other similar action, the Attorney will immediately notify the Client of any offer received by the Attorney to settle the Client's matter. The Attorney will not accept any offer to settle without first obtaining the approval of the Client. The Client has the unequivocal right to accept or reject any settlement offer.
ATTORNEY'S LIEN: The Attorney will have a lien for attorney's fees, costs or both advanced on behalf of the Client, on all funds obtained by judgment, settlement or arbitration award payable to the Client.
DISCHARGE OF ATTORNEY: The Client may, at any time, discharge the Attorney for any reason or no reason by written notice, which will become effective upon receipt by the Attorney. Upon receipt, the Attorney will cease providing any services to the Client, unless otherwise agreed upon by the Attorney and the Client. The Client will execute and return a substitution of attorney form immediately on its receipt from the Attorney if the Attorney is the Client's attorney of record in any litigation. The Client agrees that following such termination, the Client will remain obligated to pay for all attorney's fees and costs owed to the Attorney as required by the terms of this Agreement. If the Attorney has substantially performed, the Attorney may have earned the Attorney's entire fee even if the Attorney is discharged before completion of subject matter of representation.
WITHDRAWAL OF ATTORNEY: In accordance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Attorney may stop representing the Client at any time for any reason or no reason.
NO GUARANTY OF ANY PARTICULAR OUTCOME: The Client agrees that the Attorney makes no guaranty regarding the outcome or success with regards to the Client's matter. The Attorney does not have or hold any power to guarantee any certain outcome for the Client.
ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties, except for separately executed Conflict of Interest Disclosures, which, if executed, is incorporated with this Agreement. There are no other promises or conditions in any other agreement whether oral or written. This Agreement supersedes all other verbal or written agreements made prior to or concurrent with this Agreement.
SEVERABILITY: If any provision of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable. If a court finds that any provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, but that by limiting such provision it would become valid and enforceable, then such provision shall be deemed to be written, construed, and enforced as so limited.
MODIFICATIONS: This Agreement may be modified only by the execution of a written agreement signed by the Attorney and the Client. If the Client wants any additional services that have not been included in this the Agreement, a separate agreement will be necessary.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES: To efficiently represent the Client, the Attorney sometimes may have to retain other service providers. The Attorney does not receive any financial benefit from service providers. Service providers are under the same obligations, as the Attorney, to keep confidential the Client's matter. The Attorney will always put the best interest of the Client before the interests of these service providers. If the Client objects to the service providers selected by the Attorney, the Attorney will retain other service providers.
APPLICABLE LAW: The laws of the State of Washington govern this Agreement.
RETURNED PAYMENT FEE: The Attorney may charge the Client $30.00 per payment check or similar instrument when such check or instrument is not honored or when the Attorney must return such check or instrument because it cannot be processed.
INTEREST RATE: For hourly fees, the Attorney may charge the Client interest on unpaid fees. The interest rate will be the highest amount allowable by the usury law of the State of Washington.
ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN CLIENT AND ATTORNEY: If there is any dispute between the Client and the Attorney, such dispute will be resolved by binding arbitration. Disputes subject to arbitration include, but are not limited to, those involving fees, costs, and alleged malpractice by the Attorney.
ATTORNEY FEES AND COLLECTION COSTS: If actions are needed to enforce the terms of this Agreement, the losing party agrees to pay the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees, court costs and any other fees incurred in enforcing the terms of this Agreement.
PARAGRAPH TITLES AND GENDER AND NUMBER: The titles given to the paragraphs of this Agreement are for reference purposes only and do not form a part of this Agreement in interpreting its provisions. All words used in this Agreement in any gender shall extend to and include all genders, and any singular words shall include the plural expression, and vice versa, specifically including "Client" and "Clients", when the context or facts so require, and any pronouns shall be taken to refer to the person or persons intended regardless of gender or number.
COMMUNICATION: The Client authorizes DATH PLLC to communicate, including sending confidential documents pertaining to my matter, with me via email and understand that electronic communication does not guarantee total confidentiality.
DATE AND SIGNING OF THIS AGREEMENT: This Agreement will become effective when payment is submitted by the Client. However, in the event this Agreement requires the payment of a retainer fee to the Attorney, this Agreement will not become effective, and the Attorney will have no duty to act on behalf of the Client, until the full payment of such retainer fee. Availability of the Attorney and the fees outlined herein shall be valid for seven days from the date of this Agreement.
This Agreement is executed as of the date DATH PLLC receives valid payment by the Client.
PARTIES TO THIS AGREEMENT: This Agreement is entered by and between an attorney of DATH PLLC, the "Attorney," and the Client, the “Client,” collectively referred to as the “Parties.”
LEGAL SERVICES INCLUDED: See email from the Attorney for a description of the limited scope of legal services agreed to by the Parties.
LEGAL SERVICES NOT INCLUDED: The Attorney will not be conducting any due diligence on the information provided by Client but will rely on the information provided to be true and accurate. The Attorney will not be providing any services beyond those listed in the “Legal Services Included” section above.
In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for an attorney normally not employed by DATH PLLC to perform services on behalf of the Client. The Client consents to this backup provision.
It is agreed that the precise listing of Legal Services to be provided sometimes cannot be made. What Legal Services the Attorney will provide will be determined by the usual business practices of the legal community of Washington State.
CONFIDENTIALITY BY ATTORNEY: Unless waived by the Client or impliedly authorized in order for the Attorney to represent the Client or required by law or ethics, the Attorney will keep confidential all matters disclosed by the Client or discovered by the Attorney during the course of representation and, when necessary, will invoke the client-attorney privilege to protect the confidentiality of such matters.
DUTIES OF ATTORNEY TO CLIENT: Attorney is bound by the applicable Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) as promulgated by the Supreme Court of the State of Washington. A copy of the RPC can be viewed at http://wsba.org.
DUTIES OF CLIENT TO ATTORNEY: The Client will be honest and cooperate with the Attorney, informing the Attorney of new developments or changes that could affect the Client's case, in particular any changes in the Client's address, phone number, and/or how to reach the Client. The Client will make any and all payments according to this Agreement on or before the date due.
The Client will not use the services of the Attorney to commit any crime or fraud against any court, tribunal, person or other entity. Such abuse of the services of the Attorney may be a basis for waiver of client-attorney confidentiality.
FEES FOR SERVICES: There is no law that set specific fees for legal services. The Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) mandate that the Attorney's fee will be reasonable.
The Attorney and the Client agree that the Client, in addition to paying costs, will pay the Attorney for services, rendered during regular business hours as follows:
FLAT FEES: Client agrees to pay Attorney the flat fee stated in the email from the Attorney. Client agrees that the flat fee is only for Attorney's services and only for agreed upon services. Client will pay more for additional services and costs. The flat fee is the Attorney’s property upon receipt and will not be placed in a trust account. This flat fee agreement does not alter the Client’s right to terminate the client-attorney relationship and the Client may be entitled to a refund of a portion of the fee if not all the agreed-upon services have been provided.
BILLABLE SERVICES AND BILLING INCREMENT: Billable services include, but are not limited to, research, getting to or from any place, consultation, drafting letters, briefs or any other document, compiling documentation or any other service rendered on behalf of the Client. Unless otherwise noted, all services are billed in increments of one-tenth of an hour, rounded up for each activity to the nearest one tenth of an hour. There is a minimum charge of one-tenth of an hour for any services related to the matter under this Agreement.
CANCELED, LATE OR MISSED APPOINTMENTS: Unless the Client notifies Attorney at least 24 hours before the appointment, the Attorney will charge the Client at least 1 hour for any appointment with attorney that Client canceled, was late to, or did not attend. Billing for canceled, late or missed appointments is in addition to any other fee arrangement between Client and Attorney.
REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS: Client agrees that the regular business hours for the Attorney are 9 AM to 5 PM, Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The Attorney will bill the Client at twice the Attorney's usual hourly rate but not less than $375 per hour for services that are rendered outside of regular business hours. Billing for services outside of regular business hours is in addition to any other fee arrangement between the Client and the Attorney.
COSTS: The Client will pay all "costs" in relationship to the Attorney's legal services under this Agreement. Costs include, but are not limited to, long distance telephone charges, facsimile charges, court filing fees, deposition costs, expert fees and expenses, investigation costs, mileage charges, parking, messenger service fees, photocopying expenses, process server fees and any other related expenses incurred by the Attorney to provide services to the Client. The Client agrees that any cost incurred under $250 may be paid out of their trust account without prior notice to the Client. Those costs will be reflected in the Client’s monthly invoice. The Client will be given notification for costs above $250 before the funds are taken out of the trust account.
ADVANCE FEE DEPOSITS: If required by this Agreement, the Client will pay to the Attorney an advance fee deposit to be applied against the Attorney's fees and costs incurred by the Client or expenses paid by the Attorney on behalf of the Client. As mandated by the RPC, this amount will be deposited in an interest-bearing trust account whose interest is NOT payable to either the Attorney or the Client. If the Client wants to set up a trust account whose interest is payable to the Client, the Attorney will set up such account; however, the Client will bear all costs relating to the setting up and maintenance of such account. If any amount of the Client's retainer is remaining in the trust account at the time of the termination of this Agreement, after attorney's fees and costs have been fully paid, the remaining amount of the retainer will be refunded to the Client.
TRUST BALANCE: If required by this Agreement, until the termination of this Agreement, Client at all times will maintain a credit balance of at least $0 in the Trust account. When notified that additional funds are needed, Client will promptly remit to Attorney sufficient funds to maintain such balance. Attorney can accept late or partial payments, as well as payments marked as "paid in full" or other restrictive endorsements, without losing any of Attorney's rights under this Agreement. In the event that trial is necessary, the Client will make a trust deposit sixty (60) days before the trial date.
PAYMENTS: For hourly fee matters, the Attorney will send the Client a monthly accounting of billable hours spent working on behalf of the Client for the month. The Client agrees to pay monthly bill within fifteen (15) days and may opt to pay Attorney directly, or may authorize the Attorney to transfer the amount due from the Client trust account to the Attorney’s business account. Non-payment of monthly bill may be grounds for a termination of this agreement.
PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY'S FEES OR COSTS BY ANOTHER PARTY: The Client agrees that the Court may order or the opposing parties may agree that another party will pay for part or all of the Attorney's fees or costs or both. Such order or agreement will not change the Client's obligations to the Attorney.
CLIENT'S PROPERTY: Except for the Attorney's work products, the Client's legal file, and the documents therein, are the Client's property. The Attorney will retain the Client's property obtained or generated during the pendency of the legal services rendered. Upon the request by the Client, the Client's property will be promptly released to the Client. If the Client does not accept such property, the Attorney may retain or dispose of such property at the Attorney's reasonable discretion. The Client will pay any storage costs thereof.
SETTLEMENT: If the legal services rendered pertain to a claim, suit, litigation or other similar action, the Attorney will immediately notify the Client of any offer received by the Attorney to settle the Client's matter. The Attorney will not accept any offer to settle without first obtaining the approval of the Client. The Client has the unequivocal right to accept or reject any settlement offer.
ATTORNEY'S LIEN: The Attorney will have a lien for attorney's fees, costs or both advanced on behalf of the Client, on all funds obtained by judgment, settlement or arbitration award payable to the Client.
DISCHARGE OF ATTORNEY: The Client may, at any time, discharge the Attorney for any reason or no reason by written notice, which will become effective upon receipt by the Attorney. Upon receipt, the Attorney will cease providing any services to the Client, unless otherwise agreed upon by the Attorney and the Client. The Client will execute and return a substitution of attorney form immediately on its receipt from the Attorney if the Attorney is the Client's attorney of record in any litigation. The Client agrees that following such termination, the Client will remain obligated to pay for all attorney's fees and costs owed to the Attorney as required by the terms of this Agreement. If the Attorney has substantially performed, the Attorney may have earned the Attorney's entire fee even if the Attorney is discharged before completion of subject matter of representation.
WITHDRAWAL OF ATTORNEY: In accordance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Attorney may stop representing the Client at any time for any reason or no reason.
NO GUARANTY OF ANY PARTICULAR OUTCOME: The Client agrees that the Attorney makes no guaranty regarding the outcome or success with regards to the Client's matter. The Attorney does not have or hold any power to guarantee any certain outcome for the Client.
ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties, except for separately executed Conflict of Interest Disclosures, which, if executed, is incorporated with this Agreement. There are no other promises or conditions in any other agreement whether oral or written. This Agreement supersedes all other verbal or written agreements made prior to or concurrent with this Agreement.
SEVERABILITY: If any provision of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable. If a court finds that any provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, but that by limiting such provision it would become valid and enforceable, then such provision shall be deemed to be written, construed, and enforced as so limited.
MODIFICATIONS: This Agreement may be modified only by the execution of a written agreement signed by the Attorney and the Client. If the Client wants any additional services that have not been included in this the Agreement, a separate agreement will be necessary.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES: To efficiently represent the Client, the Attorney sometimes may have to retain other service providers. The Attorney does not receive any financial benefit from service providers. Service providers are under the same obligations, as the Attorney, to keep confidential the Client's matter. The Attorney will always put the best interest of the Client before the interests of these service providers. If the Client objects to the service providers selected by the Attorney, the Attorney will retain other service providers.
APPLICABLE LAW: The laws of the State of Washington govern this Agreement.
RETURNED PAYMENT FEE: The Attorney may charge the Client $30.00 per payment check or similar instrument when such check or instrument is not honored or when the Attorney must return such check or instrument because it cannot be processed.
INTEREST RATE: For hourly fees, the Attorney may charge the Client interest on unpaid fees. The interest rate will be the highest amount allowable by the usury law of the State of Washington.
ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN CLIENT AND ATTORNEY: If there is any dispute between the Client and the Attorney, such dispute will be resolved by binding arbitration. Disputes subject to arbitration include, but are not limited to, those involving fees, costs, and alleged malpractice by the Attorney.
ATTORNEY FEES AND COLLECTION COSTS: If actions are needed to enforce the terms of this Agreement, the losing party agrees to pay the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees, court costs and any other fees incurred in enforcing the terms of this Agreement.
PARAGRAPH TITLES AND GENDER AND NUMBER: The titles given to the paragraphs of this Agreement are for reference purposes only and do not form a part of this Agreement in interpreting its provisions. All words used in this Agreement in any gender shall extend to and include all genders, and any singular words shall include the plural expression, and vice versa, specifically including "Client" and "Clients", when the context or facts so require, and any pronouns shall be taken to refer to the person or persons intended regardless of gender or number.
COMMUNICATION: The Client authorizes DATH PLLC to communicate, including sending confidential documents pertaining to my matter, with me via email and understand that electronic communication does not guarantee total confidentiality.
DATE AND SIGNING OF THIS AGREEMENT: This Agreement will become effective when payment is submitted by the Client. However, in the event this Agreement requires the payment of a retainer fee to the Attorney, this Agreement will not become effective, and the Attorney will have no duty to act on behalf of the Client, until the full payment of such retainer fee. Availability of the Attorney and the fees outlined herein shall be valid for seven days from the date of this Agreement.
This Agreement is executed as of the date DATH PLLC receives valid payment by the Client.
