From the Editor in Chief

• Author: Kathleen A. Hogan
• Pages: 4-5

from the

editor in chief

By

Kathleen A. Hogan

4 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org

FAMILY ADVOCATE

Kathleen A. Hogan (kah@mcguanehogan.com) is a pr incipal with McGuane

and Hogan, P.C., in Denver, Colorado, and Editor i n Chief of

Family Advocate

.

Editorial Board

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Kathleen A. Hogan

3773 Cherry Creek N. Drive

Suite 950

Denver, CO 80209

kah@mcguanehogan.com

ISSUE EDITORS

Livia DeFilippis Barndollar, Westport, CT

Timothy B. Walker, Centennial, CO

Steven K. Yoda, Woodland Hills, CA

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Livia DeFilippis Barndollar, Westport, CT

Joy M. Feinberg, Chicago, IL

Ann M. Haralambie, Tucson, AZ

Gregg M. Herman, Milwaukee, WI

Debra H. Lehrmann, Austin, TX

Lilka B. Martinez, El Dorado Hills, CA

Michelle Piscopo, Philadelphia, PA

Gerald L. Shoemaker Jr., Norristown, PA

Gene Brentley Tanner, Raleigh, NC

Timothy B. Walker, Centennial, CO

Steven K. Yoda, Woodland Hills, CA

EDITORIAL POLICY

Family Advocate, published by the

American Bar Association Family Law

Section, oers practical, practice-oriented

articles for family lawyers, their clients,

and other professionals involved in

divorce, child custody, adoption, and

other family-law related issues. e articles

in Family Advocate do not express the

off‌icial policy of the ABA or the Family

Law Section. ey represent the views of

thoughtful members of the bench and bar

who are interested in eective advocacy

and the American family.

MANAGING EDITOR

Lori Lyons

lori.lyons@americanbar.org

312-988-5662

DESIGN

Mary Anne Kulchawik

maryanne.kulchawik@americanbar.org

ADVERTISING

Jonathan McGraw

MCI-Group

jonathan.mcgraw@mci-group.com

410-584-1979

No matter how much one might profess to love the law,

and no matter how much intellectual simulation or

personal satisfaction there might be in practicing law,

at some point most of us need to make a living. As

well, even the most dedicated staff members and the

most understanding landlords are not going to house

and support a law practice for free. When it comes to getting paid for our

work, family law practitioners may be in a more difcult position than our

colleagues who represent corporations, insurance companies, or other

“faceless” entities. Our clients are individuals whose messy nances we may

be probing. They may be the people who just heard the bad news that

they will have to cut personal spending, make lifestyle adjustments, or part

with a substantial chunk of a retirement account.

I hope each of us enjoys the occasional victory that results in a client

who is both happy and eager to pay their lawyer. However, the norm for

most of us is that we are going to have to establish procedures and take

routine steps that maximize our ability to get paid for our work. We have

prepared this issue on attorney fees as a guide to effective and ethical steps

for establishing and collecting our fees.

As a foundation to professional representation, Carl Gilmore discusses

how the ubiquitous retainer agreement is crucial to creating and fostering

a successful attorney-client relationship, necessary for successful case

management, and important for protecting both parties. In his “Retainer

Agreements” article, Gilmore explains that a carefully crafted retainer

agreement ensures attorneys do not run afoul of professional rules of

conduct, including the ABA Model Rules specic to family law, and that

they, ultimately, get paid. He also provides a helpful full-text example of a

retainer agreement that covers all these essential functions.

Often the claim for attorney fees becomes part of the client’s case. In their

article, “The Presentation and Proof of Attorney Fees in Family Law Cases,”

James S. Bailey and Rebecca Goldmanis address the difculty in proving the

reasonableness of attorney fees in domestic and family law cases. The

challenge we face is that courts will not award fees that are objectively

unreasonable, but there is no precise rule or formula for determining

attorney fees. The authors recommend a multilayered approach.

In her article called “Getting Paid . . . Ethically,” Lynda C. Shely gives

several insightful practice tips to avoid common ethics and risk manage-

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.