1976, May, Pg. 623. From Our Readers.

5 Colo.Law. 623

Colorado Lawyer

1976.

1976, May, Pg. 623.

From Our Readers

623Vol. 5, No. 5, Pg. 623From Our ReadersTowards An "Average Fee" Schedule

Following the Supreme Court's decision barring the use of minimum fee schedules by the Bar Associations, lawyers throughout the country have been vainly searching for a means by which to adequately determine the value of their services and a procedure for setting a fee which is commensurate with that value.

It is this author's suggestion that the Bar move towards an "average Fee" schedule. The development of an average fee for cases would certainly diminish the trauma imposed by keeping hourly records, distinguishing between the value of different types of cases and the embarrassment of having to explain to a client the means of calculation to reach his bill.

As the average fee would be determined by indisputable mathematical precision, it would be more resilient to court review than the previously applied minimum fee.

Average fees cannot be based on blue sky but should be soundly grounded in the economic realities of each state.

In Colorado, registration numbers have been issued to 7,206 attorneys; those attorneys service a population estimated by the Bureau of the Census as of July 1, 1975 to number 2,534,000 persons. That gives each lawyer in the state a maximum of 351.65 people to serve (the national average is 661.53 per lawyer). With the Colorado average of 3.08 persons per household, as determined by the Bureau of the Census in 1970, each Colorado lawyer has 114.17 client households from which to expect legal work.

Among the 114.17 potential client households, numerous families will never seek the advice and counsel of an attorney. Some have estimated this figure to be approximately 40 percent of the population. Considering the potential client base as a whole, we can assume that the average family will visit a lawyer for services once every four years; accordingly, each attorney in Colorado will have 28.54 clients per year from which to make a living.

The 1974 economic survey of the Colorado Bar Association determined that the average lawyer in Colorado has an income of $24,920. With an average 37 percent overhead, that "average lawyer" would have to pay $14,635.55 annually to run his office. Accordingly, each lawyer must generate a gross income of...