Fees
Six stages, six prices
Six stages, each priced before it starts. You sign for one stage at a time and can stop after any of them.
Case assessment
We read the complaint or the contract and the key letters, meet you by video, and tell you in writing what the case is about and what each stage would cost.
- A video meeting with both lawyers
- A written assessment and stage-by-stage quote
- Filing or sending anything
- Term:
- Flat fee
Credited to the next stage if you go ahead.
Demand or response
A demand letter before suit, or a response to one, with a round of negotiation after it.
- Letter and one round of negotiation
- A lawsuit
- Term:
- Flat fee
Pleadings
The complaint, or the answer and any counterclaim, and the motions to dismiss that usually follow.
- Complaint or answer and counterclaim
- Early motions and hearings
- Discovery
- Term:
- Flat fee
Discovery
Written discovery both ways, document review, and depositions of the witnesses who matter.
- Written discovery and document review
- Up to six depositions
- Further depositions, quoted before they are noticed
- Term:
- Flat fee
Mediation
A mediation statement, a preparation session with you, and a full day at the mediation.
- Statement, preparation and the day itself
- The mediator's fee
- Term:
- Flat fee
Trial or arbitration hearing
Pretrial motions, witness preparation, exhibits and the trial or hearing itself.
- Up to three days in court or before the panel
- Each further day, quoted before it is scheduled
- Term:
- Flat fee, up to three days
Fees cover our work only. Court costs, filing and service fees, experts, deposition transcripts and the mediator's or arbitrator's fee are separate, billed at cost.
How the fee is paid
At the start of each stage
The stage's fee is paid when you sign for it, into the firm's trust account, and drawn as the work is done.
No retainer to top up
There is no running balance and no monthly invoice. The next stage has its own price, agreed in writing first.
Settled early?
If a case settles partway through a stage, the engagement letter sets out the share of that fee we return.
Questions about flat fees
Why not bill by the hour?
Because you can't plan around an hourly bill, and in a lawsuit the other side controls part of the clock. A fixed price per stage puts that risk on us.
Will you work for a share of what we recover?
No. We charge flat fees by stage only, whichever side you are on.
Can I recover the fees from the other side?
Sometimes. Some contracts and some laws let the winner recover attorney's fees. We tell you at the assessment whether yours might.
What if the other side files something unexpected?
Most motions are inside the stage fee. If something falls outside it, like an appeal in the middle of a case, we quote it before doing the work.
Ask for the first stage's fee
Send what you were served or the contract in dispute. We reply with the assessment fee and a time to talk.