Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Referrals
Referral Etiquette
As an Attorney were often farming out referring clients that
come to other Attorneys. This is done based on the area of law or expertise the
potential client is seeking or simply because the client is outside our
geographical area.
This is a great and free way to get referrals. That
being said here are some ground rules I feel should be laid down when referring
clients to another attorney.
1.
If at all possible make sure the attorney that you are
referring the client to is going to be able to receive the referral and assist
the client.
2.
Try and establish a working relationship with the other
Attorney where you can refer clients to each other.
3.
Provide the client with the other Attorney’s
telephone number, Fax, and email address if at all possible. Most ethics
rule forbid the other Attorney from contacting the client directly first.
4.
DO NOT PROMISE THE CLIENT A SPECIFIC RATE OR ADVISE.
REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT HANDLING THE CASE SO YOU SHOULD NOT GIVING OUT ANY FURTHER
INFORMATION THAN THE OTHER ATTORNEY’S INFORMATION.
5.
DO not bully the other Attorney into “hooking up”
or discounting the rate. Often times Attorneys refer their family members and
friends and expect the other Attorney to slash their prices. Remember like you
they have overhead and a life style to maintain, so please do not take bread
out of their mouths.
Remember the larger your network
the more powerful your network will be!
As an Attorney were often farming out referring clients that
come to other Attorneys. This is done based on the area of law or expertise the
potential client is seeking or simply because the client is outside our
geographical area.
This is a great and free way to get referrals. That
being said here are some ground rules I feel should be laid down when referring
clients to another attorney.
1.
If at all possible make sure the attorney that you are
referring the client to is going to be able to receive the referral and assist
the client.
2.
Try and establish a working relationship with the other
Attorney where you can refer clients to each other.
3.
Provide the client with the other Attorney’s
telephone number, Fax, and email address if at all possible. Most ethics
rule forbid the other Attorney from contacting the client directly first.
4.
DO NOT PROMISE THE CLIENT A SPECIFIC RATE OR ADVISE.
REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT HANDLING THE CASE SO YOU SHOULD NOT GIVING OUT ANY FURTHER
INFORMATION THAN THE OTHER ATTORNEY’S INFORMATION.
5.
DO not bully the other Attorney into “hooking up”
or discounting the rate. Often times Attorneys refer their family members and
friends and expect the other Attorney to slash their prices. Remember like you
they have overhead and a life style to maintain, so please do not take bread
out of their mouths.
Remember the larger your network
the more powerful your network will be!
Your 3 worst debt consolidation moves
| The Basics | |||
| Your 3 worst debt consolidation moves | |||
POSTED BY: The phrase "debt consolidation" has always had a magical ring to me. As if somehow, someone would have the power to mush my debt into one neat little package, which by some incredible financial alchemy would also then shrink the debt itself -- and I'd only owe a hundred bucks or so. I know I'm not the only idiot who's had this fantasy, because an entire industry has sprung up to support it: The Debt Consolidation Industry and Covert Sting Operation. Every day, I get at least one piece of regular mail offering me low-interest balance-transfer deals for credit-card debt, or arm-twisting e-mail from unknown credit organizations that scream things like:
Three bad debt-consolidation moves: 1) The Hard-Money Loan "The biggest myth about debt-consolidation loans is that they're easy to get," says Scott Kays, president of Kays Financial Advisory Corp. and author of "Achieving Your Financial Potential." If you really need a loan, it's probably because you've already missed a few payments and your credit history has more dings in it than a '74 Ford Pinto. And that's the problem. Kays says that if you are a credit risk, the consolidator may entice you with promises of an easy-does-it loan, and end up charging you higher interest rates than you're paying now -- as high as 21% or 22%. "Your monthly payment may be lower" with one of these loans, "but you'll end up paying more," says Kays. 2) Debt Consolidators Who Promise to Take Care of Everything This is the fairy godmother fantasy. This Nice Big Debt Consolidation company comes along and swears they'll make your life soooo much easier. They'll negotiate lower interest rates, reduce your monthly payments -- and all you have to do is make "one EZ payment." In reality, many debt consolidators build in a fee as part of the monthly payment you make to them. It's usually about 10% of the payment (i.e. about $40 on a $400 monthly payment). They pass along your payments to the creditor -- some debit directly from your checking account -- and get back a 10% to 15% slice that the relieved creditor is only too happy to rebate to the consolidator. Is it worth paying someone else to do what you can do on your own, i.e. negotiate lower interest rates and stretch out your repayment schedule and pay off the highest-interest debts first? To desperate ears, this might sound like an ideal solution, especially when you talk to these people and they scare the bejeezus out of you. I interviewed two, Cambridge Credit and Counseling Services and Integrated Credit Solutions. Each offered similar services, and I don't recommend either of them. The senior credit counselor I spoke to at Integrated told me, in grave tones, that it would take me 379 months -- or 32 years -- to pay off my debt. With their services, however, they would "save me 27 years," and I could pay off my debt in just 53 months, or about 4 1/2 years. Thats funny, because when I plugged my debt into the MSN Money Debt Consolidator -- a less biased source, since they ain't getting no fee from me -- they said I could pay off my debt in 41 months, providing I make slightly higher minimum payments to each card: a total of just $60 extra per card. Here's another risk with consolidators you should know about: they have been known, in some cases, to make late payments or even miss payments, thus worsening your plight (and your credit record). After I got off the phone with Integrated, I had to ask myself: Is it worth paying someone else to do what you can do on your own? That is, negotiate lower interest rates and stretch out your repayment schedule and pay off the highest-interest debts first? I don't think so. 3) The Balance Transfer Trap Low-interest balance-transfer cards are a dime a dozen these days, but remember that those rates only last a few months -- and then you have to switch cards again. The danger is that at some point all this activity begins to show up on your credit report, and you start to look like a bad risk. Then if you get turned down, "you could be left holding the high-interest card you were hoping to dump," says Kays. If you think you can swing from the balance-transfer vines for a few months, just make sure you formally close all your accounts yourself, and then notify the credit-card company to mark the account "closed at customer's request." "Otherwise, on your credit report, it will look like the creditor closed your account," says David Mooney, PR director of Equifax, one of the biggest credit reporting agencies. Thus making you look like an even worse risk, even when you're doing your best not to be. Your best debt-consolidation moves If you own a home and have some equity in it, you have a couple of options that are relatively low in cost. These are pretty straightforward: Take out a home equity loan. A home equity loan has the advantage of carrying a fairly low interest rate, currently in the high single digits, and what interest you do pay is tax-deductible, Kays points out. Most fixed-rate loans carry a 15-year term and require that borrowers pay an origination fee of $75 to several hundred dollars, plus the cost of an appraisal and title insurance. Do a "cash-out" refinancing. Another option for those with home equity is refinancing your property for greater than the amount you owe and using the extra cash to pay off debt. You get very low interest rates this way, but you're stretching payments out over 15 or 30 years. The total interest cost over three decades can wind up being pretty huge, so think of this as a one-time-only (if ever) option. Refinance your car. "Most people don't think of it, but it is a secured loan and you can borrow against it," Kays says. The danger there is that you may run out of car before you run out of debt. It's tough to buy a new car when you owe more than it's worth. Get a personal loan. If you have reasonably undamaged credit, you may qualify for an unsecured loan. Credit unions (see link to the left) typically offer lower rates than banks, but even there you can expect a rate of 11% or more. Still, that may be a whole lot less than the 20%-plus you're now paying to the credit-card company. Negotiate better terms. You can do this for yourself easily. Just call your credit-card company and ask them to do it (many customer service people are authorized to reduce rates right there on the phone). Another alternative. Or you can get help from an organization like National Foundation for Credit Counseling (see link to left). NFCC has branches throughout the country; they are a non-profit, community organization that provides free and confidential debt management advice to anyone who needs it. You can even consult with them over the phone, like I did (see below). Like other debt consolidators, NFCC gets paid by creditors, so it's in their best interest to work out a repayment plan rather than advise you to declare bankruptcy. Not that you want to be advised to declare bankruptcy, but in certain cases it may be your best option. NFCC makes no outlandish promises beyond the prospect of a saner financial life, and the possibility of qualifying for their low-rate mortgage program. They also offer low-cost financial planning -- a resource I'm definitely going to look into for a future column. Once I have some finances again, I will need someone to tell me what to do with them! So whatever happened to Since writing about my struggles with debt, Ive become religious about paying as much money as I could every month. (Thing was: I still carried my credit cards in my wallet. So my new get-out-of-debt tip would be: Take the cards out of the wallet. Otherwise, you will use them.) Then those big payments started to have an impact. But I was on a mission. I wanted my debt gone. I turned to debt calculators, talked with friends, and ultimately came up with a two-pronged plan of merciless debt destruction. Operation Enduring Freedom from Debt. First, I took on some extra freelance work that, eventually, would pay me a little bit more than my debt in four big chunks. While I was waiting and working, I decided to consolidate my debt and turned to NFCC as my resource. Here's the best part of NFCC: 1) They give you a one-hour consultation, by phone or in person, to help you decide if you need a Debt Management Plan. 2) In order to do the consultation, they make you fill out a form that details all your expenses. Writing down my daily expenses is Personal Finance 101, and I've always found it mildly useful. NFCC advisor Nina Reiss, on the other hand, walked me through an entire year of expenditures. Now THAT was eye-opening. She asked me what I paid per month for things I'd forgotten even were expenses: subscriptions, holiday gifts, underwear, new socks, groceries, birthday gifts, movies (even rentals), my yoga classes, banking fees -- you'd be amazed what you pay just to live a semi-civilized life. Ultimately, Reiss felt that I was living about $100 a month beyond my means, but that I was paying as much as I could toward the debt on my own. We did the numbers and figured that even with their interest-rate reductions, I could still pay off my debt without their help -- as long as I cut back my expenses so that I was living within my means. So in the end, dear reader, getting out debt boils down to one thing and one thing only (which you and I already knew): elbow grease, peanut butter lunches and living like a more reasonable human being. |
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The Green Lawyer is an innovative Lawyer!
We have significantly reduced our electricity use by over 30%. We did this by purchasing energy star appliances and office equipment.Being green isn't just innovative, its smart and less expensive!
The greenest paper is no paper at all, so keep things digital and dematerialized whenever possible. The more you do online, the less you need paper. Keep files on computers instead of in file cabinets. We often send confidential communications over email. This ensures a speedy delivery of the message to the client and supports our green efforts. Although we are not completely paper less, almost 90% percent of our client files are located on a secure server; hence, why we no longer have or need large file cabinets to store these files. Also, with changes to technology we are able to create and send documents via email and fax without printing them first!.
Although some paper use can not be avoided, so use recycled paper and envelopes that have been processed and colored using eco-friendly methods. Our Pens and pencils are made of recycled materials, and refillable pens and markers are preferable to disposable ones. We often use biodegradable soaps and recycled paper or cloth towels in the bathroom and kitchen, and provide biodegradable cleaners for the custodial staff. Buying in bulk so that shipping and packaging waste are reduced, and reuse the shipping boxes is yet another way we achieve this.
Further, we make it a point to Recycle printer cartridges and purchase remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. In addition, we have donated unwanted products and furniture. These are a few in our many efforts to be more eco-friendly and go green.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Non-refundable retainers (Myth)
www.July 21, 2000
2000 Formal Ethics Opinion 5
POSTED BY
Nonrefundable Advance Fees
Opinion rules that a lawyer may not tell a client that any fee paid prior to the rendition of legal services is "nonrefundable" although, by agreement with the client, a lawyer may collect a flat fee for legal services to be rendered in the future and treat the fee as earned immediately upon receipt subject to certain conditions.
Inquiry:
The North Carolina State Bar frequently receives complaints from clients who have entered into fee agreements that require lump sum payments in advance of the provision of legal services. Such fees are frequently described as "nonrefundable" in the fee agreement. Typically, the lawyer collects the fee from the client for legal work that is to be done in the future and deposits the money in the firm's operating account instead of the trust account. The fee may be paid for a certain number of hours of the lawyer's services or it may be a flat fee for a particular legal service such as obtaining a divorce. The State Bar usually receives a complaint when the client-lawyer relationship is terminated prematurely, before the legal services are rendered in full, and the lawyer declines to refund any of the advance payment to the client.
Although 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4 clarifies some of the issues relating to advance or "prepaid" fees, this opinion provides additional guidance to lawyers who desire to collect a flat fee for services at the beginning of a representation.
Opinion:
A lawyer may charge and collect a fee prior to providing legal representation to a client. However, the Revised Rules of Professional Conduct require that the lawyer do three things with regard to every fee: (1) refrain from entering into an agreement for, charging, or collecting a fee that is clearly excessive; (2) deal honestly with the client; and (3) put all client funds in a trust account. See Rule 1.5(a), Rule 8.4(c), and Rule 1.15-1.
Given these ethical considerations, a lawyer may treat an advance payment of a fee as the lawyer's money, and deposit the money in the lawyer's own account or the lawyer's firm account, only if the client agrees that payment may be treated as earned by the lawyer when it is paid. See RPC 158. 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4 states that there are only two types of fees paid at the beginning of the representation that may be deposited directly into the lawyer's or the firm's operating account: a "true" general retainer1 and a flat fee. A flat fee is a fee paid for specified legal services to be completed for the designated amount of money regardless of the amount of time required of the lawyer to complete the services. See 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4.
Although a flat fee may be deposited into an operating account at the beginning of the representation, when the client-lawyer relationship ends, if the fee is clearly excessive in light of the services actually rendered, the portion of the fee that makes the total payment clearly excessive must be returned to the client. As stated in 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4, "[w]hether a fee is described to a client as 'nonrefundable' or no mention is made as to whether the fee is refundable, if a particular collected fee is clearly excessive under the circumstances, the portion of the fee that is excessive must be refunded."
The duty to refund any portion of a fee that is clearly excessive exists regardless of the type of fee that was paid. This means that there is always a possibility that a lawyer will have to refund some or all of any type of advance fee, if the client-lawyer relationship ends before the contemplated services are rendered. At the conclusion of the representation, the lawyer must review the entire representation and determine whether, in light of the circumstances, a refund is necessary to avoid a clearly excessive fee. See Rule 1.5(b).
The possibility that a refund to the client will be required means that no fee is truly "nonrefundable." To call such a payment a "nonrefundable fee" is false and misleading in violation of Rule 7.1. Moreover, the designation of the fee as "nonrefundable" in the fee agreement has a chilling effect on the client's right to terminate the representation at anytime. A lawyer may refer to such a fee as a "prepaid flat fee." The lawyer may also reach an agreement with the client that some or all of the fee may be forfeited under certain conditions but only if the amount so forfeited is not clearly excessive in light of the circumstances and all such conditions are reasonable and fair to the client. See, e.g., Rule 1.8(a).
Since it is difficult for clients to understand when a prepaid flat fee is earned upon receipt, and proof of such understanding may be required in subsequent proceedings, it is recommended that the lawyer obtain the client's consent in a written fee agreement. See, e.g., Rule 1.5(c) and Rule 1.8(a).
Endnotes:
1. An advance payment for legal services must be distinguished from a true "nonrefundable retainer." As explained in RPC 50, a nonrefundable retainer is "consideration for the exclusive use of the lawyer's services in regard to a particular matter…." It is later explained in the opinion that
[r]etainers and advance payments should be carefully distinguished. In its truest sense, a retainer is money to which an attorney is immediately entitled and should not be placed in the attorney's trust account. A 'retainer' which is actually a deposit by the client of an advance payment of a fee to be billed on an hourly basis is not a payment to which the attorney is immediately entitled. It is really a security deposit and should be placed in the trust account. As the attorney earns the fee, the funds should be withdrawn from the account.
2000 Formal Ethics Opinion 5
POSTED BY
Nonrefundable Advance Fees
Opinion rules that a lawyer may not tell a client that any fee paid prior to the rendition of legal services is "nonrefundable" although, by agreement with the client, a lawyer may collect a flat fee for legal services to be rendered in the future and treat the fee as earned immediately upon receipt subject to certain conditions.
Inquiry:
The North Carolina State Bar frequently receives complaints from clients who have entered into fee agreements that require lump sum payments in advance of the provision of legal services. Such fees are frequently described as "nonrefundable" in the fee agreement. Typically, the lawyer collects the fee from the client for legal work that is to be done in the future and deposits the money in the firm's operating account instead of the trust account. The fee may be paid for a certain number of hours of the lawyer's services or it may be a flat fee for a particular legal service such as obtaining a divorce. The State Bar usually receives a complaint when the client-lawyer relationship is terminated prematurely, before the legal services are rendered in full, and the lawyer declines to refund any of the advance payment to the client.
Although 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4 clarifies some of the issues relating to advance or "prepaid" fees, this opinion provides additional guidance to lawyers who desire to collect a flat fee for services at the beginning of a representation.
Opinion:
A lawyer may charge and collect a fee prior to providing legal representation to a client. However, the Revised Rules of Professional Conduct require that the lawyer do three things with regard to every fee: (1) refrain from entering into an agreement for, charging, or collecting a fee that is clearly excessive; (2) deal honestly with the client; and (3) put all client funds in a trust account. See Rule 1.5(a), Rule 8.4(c), and Rule 1.15-1.
Given these ethical considerations, a lawyer may treat an advance payment of a fee as the lawyer's money, and deposit the money in the lawyer's own account or the lawyer's firm account, only if the client agrees that payment may be treated as earned by the lawyer when it is paid. See RPC 158. 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4 states that there are only two types of fees paid at the beginning of the representation that may be deposited directly into the lawyer's or the firm's operating account: a "true" general retainer1 and a flat fee. A flat fee is a fee paid for specified legal services to be completed for the designated amount of money regardless of the amount of time required of the lawyer to complete the services. See 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4.
Although a flat fee may be deposited into an operating account at the beginning of the representation, when the client-lawyer relationship ends, if the fee is clearly excessive in light of the services actually rendered, the portion of the fee that makes the total payment clearly excessive must be returned to the client. As stated in 97 Formal Ethics Opinion 4, "[w]hether a fee is described to a client as 'nonrefundable' or no mention is made as to whether the fee is refundable, if a particular collected fee is clearly excessive under the circumstances, the portion of the fee that is excessive must be refunded."
The duty to refund any portion of a fee that is clearly excessive exists regardless of the type of fee that was paid. This means that there is always a possibility that a lawyer will have to refund some or all of any type of advance fee, if the client-lawyer relationship ends before the contemplated services are rendered. At the conclusion of the representation, the lawyer must review the entire representation and determine whether, in light of the circumstances, a refund is necessary to avoid a clearly excessive fee. See Rule 1.5(b).
The possibility that a refund to the client will be required means that no fee is truly "nonrefundable." To call such a payment a "nonrefundable fee" is false and misleading in violation of Rule 7.1. Moreover, the designation of the fee as "nonrefundable" in the fee agreement has a chilling effect on the client's right to terminate the representation at anytime. A lawyer may refer to such a fee as a "prepaid flat fee." The lawyer may also reach an agreement with the client that some or all of the fee may be forfeited under certain conditions but only if the amount so forfeited is not clearly excessive in light of the circumstances and all such conditions are reasonable and fair to the client. See, e.g., Rule 1.8(a).
Since it is difficult for clients to understand when a prepaid flat fee is earned upon receipt, and proof of such understanding may be required in subsequent proceedings, it is recommended that the lawyer obtain the client's consent in a written fee agreement. See, e.g., Rule 1.5(c) and Rule 1.8(a).
Endnotes:
1. An advance payment for legal services must be distinguished from a true "nonrefundable retainer." As explained in RPC 50, a nonrefundable retainer is "consideration for the exclusive use of the lawyer's services in regard to a particular matter…." It is later explained in the opinion that
[r]etainers and advance payments should be carefully distinguished. In its truest sense, a retainer is money to which an attorney is immediately entitled and should not be placed in the attorney's trust account. A 'retainer' which is actually a deposit by the client of an advance payment of a fee to be billed on an hourly basis is not a payment to which the attorney is immediately entitled. It is really a security deposit and should be placed in the trust account. As the attorney earns the fee, the funds should be withdrawn from the account.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
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