FEES AND PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS

At the law offices of Paul McKeever, clients are usually provided with a written retainer agreement which describes the scope of the work to be done by the lawyer, the respective responsibilities of the client and the lawyer, the amount of any initial retainer, the way in which fees and disbursements will be determined, and the way in which payments will be made. However, written retainer agreements normally are not used, at the law offices of Paul McKeever, in situations where a client requires only a single consultation.

INITIAL RETAINER AMOUNTS

Most lawyers will require a person to provide an "initial retainer amount" before the lawyer will agree to be retained by the person (i.e., before he/she will agree to take on the duties of being the person's lawyer). The initial retainer amount is an amount which the lawyer puts into his trust account and holds in trust for the client typically until the client is billed for fees or disbursements. "Fees" are the amounts paid to a lawyer for his/her service. "Disbursements" are out-of-pocket expenses typically incurred by the lawyer for the client's benefit (e.g., fees imposed by the government for the filing of documents, the cost of photocopies, long-distance calls, postage et cetera).

At the law offices of Paul McKeever, initial retainer amounts are determined on a case by case basis. Our goal is to try to ensure that people are not locked-out of the justice system simply because they currently do not have enough money. People having strong cases, but having very little or no money to commence an action, are sometimes not required to give a very large initial retainer and, in some cases (particularly of hardship), may not be required to give an initial retainer at all. Those who wish to pursue cases that may be more difficult to win, or who have the means, will sometimes be required to provide the lawyer with a reasonable initial retainer amount. Ultimately, however, the law offices of Paul McKeever endeavour to meet the needs of clients by discussing such matters with the client on a case-by-case basis.

FEES

Some of the tasks performed by lawyers are of such a nature that it is relatively easy to determine the amount of time, effort, and money required to complete the task. In such cases, lawyers may be able to provide client's with a firm statement of their fees. Thus, a lawyer practicing real estate law may be quite willing to provide clients with a firm quote with respect to his fees in respect of the purchase or sale of a house. A lawyer who prepares wills may be quite willing to provide a firm quote with respect to his fees for that task.

However, other services provided by lawyers do not lend themselves easily to the provision of a firm quotation. This is particularly true in the area of civil and commercial litigation. The number and duration of court appearances, the number and length of court documents, differences in the complexity of different cases, et cetera, all make it extremely difficult for a lawyer to predict the total cost of suing another person or persons. If the lawyer gives a quote that is too low, the lawyer risks a potentially large business loss. If the lawyer gives a quote that is too high, the client risks an unreasonably high legal bill.

Commentary to Rule 2.08 of the Law Society of Upper Canada's "Professional Conduct Handbook" states that:

Thus, a lawyer can take into account such things as the amount involved and the results obtained when deciding upon a total fee for the client. Moreover, a client and a lawyer in Ontario are free to enter into agreements that cap fees at a certain amount, or at a percentage of the amount sought or obtained. Partly because of the risk and interest expense assumed by a lawyer who takes a case on a pay-later basis, when a lawyer takes a case on a capped or contingency fee basis, it is not uncommon for ones total legal costs (fees plus disbursements) to be close to 33% of the final amount obtained.

As of the date of this page, Paul McKeever's hourly rate is $200.00. However, the hourly rate is intended only to be a control based on overhead and the costs of carrying-on practice. Whereas time spent working on a client's case is an important factor, a client's total fee is not determined simply by multiplying the time spent by the hourly rate unless that is the arrangement into which the client and the lawyer have entered. For example, if the client and Mr. McKeever, have agreed to payment on a percentage or flat fee basis, then the hourly rate will be largely irrelevant. When Mr. McKeever is being paid by the hour, Mr. McKeever' s total fee may well be adjusted up or down by Paul McKeever as may be justified in accordance with considerations such as those set-out by the Law Society of Upper Canada (see above).

Payment Arrangements

In an effort primarily to provide people with access to justice, the law offices of Paul McKeever endeavour to be flexible with respect to payment arrangements. Where, in Paul McKeever's opinion, a person's case is strong, but the person has little or no money to proceed with a lawsuit, an arrangement is sometimes made in which no payments will be made until after the person's dispute is resolved. Where a person is not particularly well-off, but can afford to make payments, an arrangement is sometimes made in which the client will pay a fixed monthly amount each month: the full fixed payment is held in trust for the client until the client receives a bill, and the client is not expected to pay more then the monthly amount each month unless special circumstances demand it. Finally, a client may choose to pay his/her bills in full as they are received. Ultimately, the law offices of Paul McKeever makes reasonable efforts to accommodate the needs of its clients.

This page last updated on April 18, 2004