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How to Save Money on Legal Fees

Your attorney is interested in helping you get competent legal assistance at a reasonable fee. The billing that you receive each month from your attorney is based in part on his or her hourly rate and on the amount of time and resources the firm spent on your legal work. You can help to keep those costs as low as possible by following these guidelines for working with your attorney.

Save on Telephone Calls

Most attorneys bill a minimum amount for each telephone call. The minimum charge can range from $25.00 on up. The charge for the telephone call will depend on the length of the call, the time of day, and on such factors as whether the call is local or long distance and whether the firm's offices are open.

You can save on charges for telephone calls in a number of ways:

Save up information and give it to your attorney in a single telephone call instead of in a series of telephone calls.
Make notes about matters you wish to discuss and have your files and background information handy for convenient reference during your conversation.
To prevent a series of telephone calls back and forth at inconvenient times (e.g., when you or your attorney are out), call the attorney's secretary and arrange a mutually convenient time for a telephone appointment. When you schedule the appointment, tell the secretary what you wish to discuss so the appropriate files can be given to the attorney for review before you call.

For effective telephone conversations with your attorney, follow these five simple steps:

Jot down the facts that you want to give your attorney.
List conclusions, ideas, or suggestions that you want to make.
List questions or problems about which you want the attorney's answers, opinions, or advice.
During the telephone call, make notes of the answers or advice that you are given so that you will have them for future reference.
Arrange to tape record the telephone call so that you can play it back. Repeated playback of the tape will help you clarify detailed points of the conversation.

Save by Writing

You can usually save even more by writing your attorney a memo or a letter instead of by calling. In the written correspondence, you can list the dates and times when the attorney may call you with a response. Your attorney can read your correspondence, organize the appropriate opinions or advice, and call you with specific answers or information. Because less time is involved than with unscheduled telephone conversations, your bill will be less.

One of the reasons you save billable time when you write instead of when you telephone is because your attorney does not have to charge for making detailed notes of your conversation. Instead, he or she can refer to the questions that you posed in your written correspondence.

When you write to your attorney, consider these tips to save additional time and money:

Use a separate page for information about each different legal matter. This makes it easier for the attorney to take the necessary actions in a minimum amount of time and to file the information in the appropriate file.
Number the paragraphs. This makes it easier to locate the matter when you and your attorney subsequently discuss it.
When you prepare written correspondence about a new legal matter for your attorney, find out from the secretary what information he or she will need before you begin writing. This makes it easier to do the necessary research to gather the data.

Save on Conferences

When you meet at your attorney's office, you may be billed at rates that can range from $100 to over $200 per hour for each attorney present at your conference. It makes sense, therefore, to plan ahead to make the best use of the conference time. Here are some ways to cut conference costs.

Check with the attorney's secretary ahead of time and find out what will be needed. Write out the information and gather the necessary documents before the meeting.
Make two copies of everything so that you and your attorney can refer to them. Inexpensive photocopying services are available in most cities and towns. Look in the Yellow Pages under Copying and Duplicating Services. On the photocopies, you can underline, redline, or highlight the important parts for your attorney's attention.
If you cannot get photocopies of documents, bring the originals to the conference with a summary sheet. On the summary sheet, list the key points of each document. Refer to the documents in chronological order and identify each one with a letter or number for easy reference. Underline or bracket lightly in pencil the important parts of the original documents to which you would like your attorney to refer.
In many cases, your attorney will ask the question "What happened?" You can save time and money by writing all the facts about your case in the order that they happened. Begin each paragraph with the date and time of the event, followed by a description of what took place.
Stick to business. At the hourly rate you are charged for conferences, you cannot afford to socialize. Your legal matters will interest and intrigue you and your attorney. Your lawyer also will be impressed if you are prepared for the conference.
Bring prospective witnesses. If you know witnesses who can be of help, ask them to attend a conference with your attorney so that he or she can talk with you and the witnesses together. Make arrangements for other witnesses who are unable to attend to be interviewed by your attorney at another time.
Submit sample forms of documents. If your attorney is simply preparing legal documents for you, you can save time if you find copies of forms similar to the kind you want and give them to your attorney. In advance, write your ideas about terms, conditions, or statements that should be considered when the document is prepared.

Save by Using One Attorney

When you retain several attorneys to represent you in different legal matters, you may incur greater legal expense (e.g., certain information may be duplicated). In most cases, you will probably save money if you have a single personal or business attorney who is competent and honest.

When you do require assistance in a special area, your attorney can advise you. Then you can authorize the necessary expertise. Often, your attorney can negotiate a more favorable fee arrangement with the specialist than you could.

Save by Discussing Fees in Advance

When you begin a new legal matter, go over the proposed fee arrangement with your attorney. Experience has shown that the client who shows interest in the fee is more likely to pay it on a timely basis. Your attorney, therefore, should be happy to talk about his or her charges. When you discuss fees, talk about ways to help reduce the attorney's time and look for items which you, your accountant, or someone else can handle at less cost.

Save by Reviewing Your Billings

Ask for detailed billings for each matter that your attorney handles. When you receive your billing statement, examine it for clues on how to save. For example, you may discover that you have been telephoning your attorney more often than you need to call. You can save by calling less frequently or by sending written correspondence.

When you check your billing statement, you may find an error or a charge that you wish to question. Bring the items in question to the attention of your attorney's secretary as soon as possible and ask that the lawyer review them. You also may circle the questioned charges on the billing statement and return it to your attorney. Typographical errors and clerical mistakes do happen. Your attorney will want to correct any errors.

Save by Being Interested

Naturally, people tend to respond more quickly to others who are interested and who show it. So tell your attorney that you are vitally concerned with the progress of your case. If you have not received a status report, call the attorney's secretary and ask for one. If you are asked to do something in connection with your legal matter, respond as rapidly and accurately as possible.

Remember that your attorney's time also is sought by other clients. The more interest you show, the more likely you are to get more rapid responses regarding your legal matter.

Get to Know Your Attorney

Many attorneys find it stimulating to pursue social relationships and friendships with the people who are their clients. If you want to talk about non-business topics of common interest, make arrangements to meet in a social setting.

You can exchange ideas and learn about each other as human beings. By establishing a closer relationship, you will learn to speak each other's language. The communication also will become more effective between you.

Your attorney is human and is motivated by such things as your appreciation and your thanks for a job well done. One way of showing your appreciation is by paying your bills promptly and by referring other people as clients.

Save with Preventive Law

You may have heard about preventive maintenance for machines or preventive medicine in the healthcare field. You can help your attorney practice preventive law by holding a conference to discuss your overall legal health and by setting in motion the necessary actions to get your affairs in order. After doing so, an annual legal checkup should help to avert future problems and reduce your expenses in the long run.

If you have any questions about how to save on attorney's fees in your individual case, please write or call.