BILLING PRACTICES

We focus on providing value through simple billing practices.

Attorneys in the field of business litigation generally work on hourly rates.  And we do too.  But our billing practices and our litigation practices operate to provide some extra value to our clients.  

​

When we take a case, we aren't kidding around about our desire to win.  This isn't marketing puffery.  We want to win your case and that desire drives us.  We will spend a great deal of time just thinking about your case, and about the law and about the strategies we might pursue to achieve victory.  This is valuable time but it's difficult to capture in a traditional hourly bill.  So we tend to be very budget focused, and we aim to stick to a budget so that there are no billing surprises.

​

We build your litigation budget around our rates and around the expected complexity of your case.  Our rate for legal services is $450 per hour for attorney time, and $250 per hour for paralegal time.  We can give you a very good sense for what a lawsuit will cost, and we'll do everything we can to stick to that budget.

​

We tend to bill in blocks of time.

Most lawyers will separately bill you at least .1 hours you every time you talk, call, and email, and every time they print a document or make a copy.  This doesn't feel good and it's not how we work.  When we work on your case, we always have a specific goal in mind, like to review discovery, write a motion, and so on.  If we need to call or email about these goals, we're not going to bill you separately.  Your bill will be simple and accurate.  

​

Non-litigation matters can sometimes be resolved on flat fees.

Oftentimes our clients need documents prepared or reviewed to avoid future disputes. We can usually handle these matters for flat fees.

​

Retainers are required for lawsuits.

We provide exceptional legal services at competitive rates—in fact, we think you would be hard pressed to hire a better law firm in Oregon at the rates we charge.  But we do not extend significant amounts of work on spec until we establish a solid working history.  

​

We require new litigation clients to pay a retainer between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on the complexity and stage of the dispute.  That money is placed into a lawyer trust account, where it will remain until we earn it by performing legal services.  

​

Retainers are important because the first phases of a lawsuit tend to require a heavy amount of work, and for a new client, we need to know that you're financially prepared to litigate.  

​