Retainer agreement how-tos topic of
Midyear CLE           

Your fee agreement should explain clearly to your client how you will charge and how you expect to get paid, said Youshea Berry, a Washington, D.C., based lawyer, in a Midyear Meeting CLE program, “The Proper Retainer Agreement:  Solid Writing, Strong Planning, Prompt Payment.”  Remember that you may be the first lawyer with whom your client has worked.  Joining Berry on the panel were Brian Faughnan of Memphis, and Priya Harjani of Evanston, Ill.

After outlining the differences between a “retainer” and “deposit” fee agreement, Berry highlighted the essential provisions of a fee agreement.  The panel then presented some practical advice “do's” in a fee agreement, including – among others – putting the agreement in writing, checking local and state rules and ethics, and updating your agreement to reflect either your client's or your own experience.

The program gave way to several questions from the audience on letters of engagement, disengagement and non-engagement, the last one referring to, as Faughnan explained, a letter sent to a non-client after oral discussions.  The non-engagement letter could also be described as a “we're not your lawyer letter,” said Faughnan.

“Provide detail in your client billing," stressed Harjani.  Make sure that you list the date of the work you provided to your client, as well as some detail about the work that was done.  Harjani offered as an example that "research“ is too vague.  Instead, "Research re: statute of limitations for retaliatory discharge claims in Illinois" is preferable.

Further, Harjani stated that a bill should be submitted regularly, should be in the same format, and there should be no surprises.  If you make a mistake, admit it, Harjani concluded.  And don't charge your client for your error.

The ABA’s Young Lawyers Division sponsored the program, with the Law Practice Management Section cosponsoring. An outline [PDF] of the program is available online.

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