Attorney-Client Agreement

Last edited 136 days ago by Ted Broomfield

Summary. The target audience for this article is prospective contingency clients, and the purpose is to explain the five sections of the attorney-client agreement.

In California, almost all attorney-client agreements require a written agreement.

My standard contingency contract is seven pages, and 21 numbered paragraphs. In other words, it is long and fairly complex.

The purpose of this article is to summarize the five (5) different parts of my attorney client agreement in order to make understanding the actual contract easier.

Part 1 - The Parties

Generally, the parties to the contract are me and the client. Sometimes, I work with other attorneys who are named in this section as “associated attorneys.” I also like to get an emergency contract in this section, just in case I cannot reach the client at an important moment. The last part of this section is the explanation that agreements between attorneys and clients must be fair and reasonable, in writing, and the client must have the opportunity to consult another attorney.

Part 2 - Limitations, the Subject, and the Compensation

I make sure to specify what I will do, and state clearly what I won’t do. Generally, I don’t do anything other than try to get money in litigation over one matter. I don’t do criminal, I don’t do tax, I don’t do appeals.

I also make sure that the contract states that I cannot promise any guaranteed results, and that some tactics carry the risk that the client may be forced to pay for the opposing side’s attorney fees and costs. This is a necessary risk that is part of almost all litigations. Just because another attorney does not tell you about this risk, does not mean that the risk does not exist.

As for compensation, sometimes I charge an hourly rate, plus my costs. See more on my

Blog About Costs in Litigation⁠

When I work on contingency, I charge a percentage of the results that I achieve for the client, plus, I get the costs that I spent back, in addition to my contingency fee.

Part 3 - Potential Conflicts

There are two types of potential conflicts as part of an attorney-client agreement. One potential conflicts with other clients. I try to identify any potential conflicts, disclose them, and explain clearly that if those potential conflicts become actual conflicts in the future, I will be forced to drop all conflicted clients.

There is also a potential conflict between myself and the client, if the client terminates the agreement before paying me. This is because in all contingency agreements, the attorney states that the attorney has the right to collect money from the suit in the amount of the value of the attorney’s work, if the client terminates the attorney before a remedy is paid. This is called a lien. If an when that occurs, the attorney and the client have an actual conflict of interest.

Part 4 - What happens if a dispute arises between attorney and client

Part 4 lays out the agreement as to what happens in a dispute. Generally, I stated that the place of any dispute is where my office is located, San Francisco. My agreement also states that the governing law is California State Law. I explain that the client is not allowed to make negative social media posts against me, and because damages would be difficult to measure, specify a dollar amount of damages if the client does make negative social media posts.

Part 5 - Execution.

This is where the client and I respectively sign and date the agreement, making it binding.

In hourly payment agreements, the deposit must be paid, before the agreement is final.

Other key points

One of the reasons my agreement is so long is that it is in 14 point font.

However, my contract is unique among the other agreements that I have seen for a few reasons.

First, I expressly state that the client can be forced to pay the other side’s attorney fees and costs. This is true in almost every litigation. I want my clients to be informed. I have lost clients over this. However, they formed agreements with other attorneys, and still were at potential risk for paying the other side’s attorney fees and costs, it is just that risk was not disclosed.

Also, I make certain that my contract states expressly that the client will read discovery questions, will type or handwrite answers to discovery questions, and will attend depositions. I have found that clients intend to do these things, but can have difficulty actually doing them when the time comes.

Conclusion

Finding the right attorney is not easy. It can be particularly difficult in a contingency arrangement, when the client has little or no experience in these types of agreements.

In order to find the right match, it’s important that you understand the agreement with your attorney. If you don’t understand something, it’s best to ask.

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