Due to the
nature of the firm’s practice, Gamble Hartshorn considers the billing of
its services on an hourly basis to be the best fee structure. On
occasion, the firm will accept representation of a client with a
differing fee structure such as a flat fee or a contingency fee. Those
alternative fee structures should be discussed with the responsible
attorney. Services provided are recorded and billed in increments of one-tenth of
an hour and detailed in itemized statements.
Gamble Hartshorn issues billing statements to its clients once
per month. The firm expects that the statements will be paid in full
within a month of receipt. Gamble Hartshorn reserves the right to
withdraw from representation of a client or refuse to provide further
services at any time that a client is not current on its account.
Usually, the firm does not bill back to the client for ordinary
office expenses such as photocopies, postage, local mileage and routine
long-distance telephone calls. Expenses that are billed back to the
client include mileage and other expenses for non-local travel, shipping
costs, court costs, filing fees and fees for the services of experts and
other professionals. Although Gamble Hartshorn will advance payment, the
client is responsible at all times for those types of expenses.
For most matters, the firm requires an initial deposit to be made
by the client. This retainer is held in the firm’s trust account and is
not co-mingled with the firm’s operating account. The firm will issue
checks from the trust account to pay the client’s fees and expenses and
issue monthly statements itemizing the legal services provided and trust
account activity. If the
matter is concluded without exhausting the entire retainer, the
remaining balance will be returned to the client.
If the matter continues after the initial retainer has been
expended, the firm, at its discretion, will bill matters on an ongoing
basis or request an additional retainer. The amount of the initial
retainer will be determined primarily by the amount of time and labor
reasonably anticipated to resolve the matter. For most matters that the
firm handles, a retainer is requested.
Gamble Hartshorn is committed to providing to its clients high quality legal services for a reasonable fee. Because of this commitment and the ethical obligations of the profession, Gamble Hartshorn bills for its services in a manner designed to accurately estimate their reasonable value. When determining both the fee structure and rates, the firm considers many factors, including, but not limited to, the following:
1)
The time and
labor involved, the novelty and difficulty of the question involved and
the skill required to perform the legal service properly;
2)
The fee
customarily charged in the locality for similar services;
3)
The amount
involved and the results obtained;
4)
The time
limitations imposed by the client or by the circumstances;
5)
The
experience, reputation and ability of the attorney or staff performing
the service.
