Collection of Attorney Fees
| Author | David H. Friedman |
| Pages | 20-23 |
20 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org
The collection of your fees from a former client can
be a mineeld for the unwary practitioner. ere
are ethical, technical, and practical issues that can
have a major impact on the collection process.
Retainer Agreement
Collecting attorney fees begins with your retainer agreement.
In addition to any ethical or statutory requirements to have a
written agreement with your client, it is a good practice to
spell out the hourly rates, costs, and other essential terms of
your agreement with your client. But when is the last time
you sat down and read through your retainer agreement?
When is the last time you reviewed a colleague’s retainer
agreement? If you haven’t done either, now may be a good
time to do a little reading.
One of the rst things to pay attention to is whether you
want to have an arbitration clause in the agreement. Some
people prefer to resolve all disputes through binding arbitra-
tion, and others feel it can be less costly to proceed with
litigation. It is a good idea to check with your malpractice
insurance carrier to see if they have a preferred method of
resolving an attorney-client fee dispute.
Also verify whether your policy will cover you if you sue a
former client and a cross-complaint is led. Some policies
will not provide coverage for a cross-complaint. If your policy
is that type, then it is a good idea to think long and hard
about whether you even want to pursue the fees. Some
Collection of
Attorney Fees
By DAVID H. FRIEDMAN
lawyers have a general policy that they will not pursue former
clients for outstanding bills due to the pitfalls of a possible
malpractice complaint. It is possible that the insurance carrier
oers lower rates if your rm agrees to not pursue former
clients.
In terms of resolving disputes in arbitration, one advan-
tage may be that you can nd a good retired judge who is
familiar with family law. Perhaps other retired judges may
not grasp some of the nuances involved in a dissolution of
paternity matter. If you, in fact, want to have an arbitration
clause, make sure it is very specic. Such a clause should
clearly specify the following: the method of determining who
will be the arbitrator, where any arbitration should take
place, the fact that an arbitration is governed by the laws of
your jurisdiction, the payment of the arbitrator’s fees, and the
method for compelling arbitration should the former client
not want to participate.
Often, a former client will use the “ostrich” defense and
simply bury his or her head in the sand and ignore your
communications; therefore, it may be necessary to le a
petition to compel arbitration and also for the court to
appoint an arbitrator. Because this type of action is in fact
calling for specic performance of your contract, it is
important that a court has enough detail to compel the
arbitration. It is also important to specify the method of
selecting an arbitrator for the same reasons. Additionally, it is
a good idea to specify the qualications of the arbitrator, for
Published in Family Advocate, Volume 42, Number 4, Spring 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof
may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
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