Fees
	Fee Agreements:
	It is essential that an attorney/client agreement exist prior to commencement of any substantive legal services. It is in the client’s interest to know the anticipated costs and is in the attorney’s best interest to know how and when he will be compensated for the time and effort devoted to the client’s case. Therefore, both attorney and client should specifically address all financial issues as part of the initial attorney client agreement. To avoid later confusion or disagreements, it is preferable that this agreement be in writing. Upon an agreement being reached between the attorney and client or the client’s personal representative, K & W will forward to the client or client’s representative an engagement letter setting forth a summary of the legal services which are at that time contemplated, and the fee agreement which has been reached in accordance with the request for these legal services. If the engagement letter is in accordance with the understanding of the client or client’s representative, the letter should be signed and dated, and returned to K & W. A copy of the engagement letter will then be forwarded to the client or client’s representative for their records. It is the client’s duty to voice any questions or disagreements with the description of the legal services requested or with the stated terms of the financial arrangements. Questions or disagreements must be made by the client in a timely manner in order to avert the attorney’s reliance on a possible misunderstanding of these matters. While questions may be addressed verbally, any disagreement with the statement of agreement shall be made in writing and forwarded to the attorney. Fee arrangements for K & W are of two types: flat fees and hourly fees.
	Flat Fees
	This is a definite fee amount that is agreed upon to be paid in return for the contemplated legal service. Although arrangements may vary from case to case, it is standard practice to charge that a stated amount of the flat fee be paid as a “retainer” at the outset of the case. The retainer is that part of the fee that is paid to secure the commitment of K & W to provide the office services as well as the attorney’s time and effort to competently handle the entrusted legal matter. Except in extraordinary circumstances, the retainer part of the fee is not refundable. That part of the flat fee that is not paid with payment of the retainer shall be subject of a “payment agreement.” Pursuant to the terms of that agreement, the client will be billed by invoice, upon which payment is to be promptly paid. Abrogation of the terms of the payment agreement will be deemed sufficient basis upon which the attorney may withdraw further legal representation.
	Hourly Billing
	This fee arrangement is preferable for legal services which are either smaller in anticipated scope than most other legal services, or is more of an ill-defined nature than other legal services. Under this arrangement, the client will deposit an agreed to amount of funds into K & W’s client trust account, a banking account solely utilized as a repository of clients’ funds. The client will then agree to payment of hourly and expense billings from the funds on hand. The client will receive a fee statement showing the amount of funds deposited, the amount that has been withdrawn to pay the hourly and expense billings, and the balance remaining. Any balance in the account are funds belonging to the client, and may be withdrawn at any time. At the conclusion of the legal matter, the balance will be refunded to the client. K & W charges different hourly fee rates depending upon the particular legal service involved, and the particular attorney involved. The basic hourly fee rate is $225.00 per hour, but can be more for specialized or difficult matters. The standard hourly rate for the paralegal is $75.00 per hour. The particular hourly fee to be charged, other than the basic hourly fee, must be communicated, understood, and agreed to by the client at the outset of the undertaking.
	Expenses:
	Expenses are out-of-pocket financial obligations that K & W incurs in the natural and foreseeable representation within the requested legal service. K & W agrees to pay these matters as they arise, subject to the client’s agreement to promptly reimburse K & W when billed for them as reflected in a submitted fee invoice. Unless specifically exempted from this policy in the initial fee agreement, all such expenses are subject to reimbursement. Because on-line internet legal research is a practical necessity for the delivery of the most prompt and up-to-date legal research, a $25 assessment for access to LexisNexis is billed as a generalized expense item to every contract for K &W legal services.