Thank you for your interest in becoming a client of Kura & Wilford Co., L.P.A [ hereafter “K & W”]. Our aim is to deliver quality legal services tailored to meet your particular needs. The following is a discussion of various office policies which is offered to minimize anymisunderstandings about respective obligations of our attorney-client relationship, and to provide a foundation for the contractual relations governing the legal services to be provided by K & W.  Please review this discussion. We are happy to address whatever questions or problems that you may have.

Our law office is open for business from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday . We are closed for most national holidays. You may telephone the office therein and speak to a member of the office staff, and if necessary leave a message for an attorney. Outside of those hours, you may leave a voice mail message that will be retrieved by office staff and relayed to an attorney. You are encouraged to leave a short message as to your immediate concern.

We recognize our professional duty to keep the client adequately informed concerning the legal matter that we have been retained to address. We also recognize the practical impossibility to respond to each inquiry by telephone or correspondence whether by client or family representative.  All inquiries will be received and considered by the attorney, who will decide what response is appropriate. As attorney and client, we must both endeavor to accommodate the interests and needs of the other, and must exercise patience as those needs are accommodated.  Because of the specialized nature of this law practice, many K & W clients are imprisoned in state and federal penal institutions. This presents obvious interference with the communications with those clients, and necessitates the need, in most cases, to designate 1 (one) contact person who is not incarcerated with whom K & W will maintain communications. Since attorney-client communications are privileged and confidential, to accommodate those interests we will prepare a special power of attorney for the client which empowers the personal representative to receive and forward confidential matters from the client and the attorney.  As a client you have the right to schedule an office appointment or a scheduled telephone conference with an attorney, subject to reasonable limitations.

E-Mail communications:

K & W does not maintain professional liability insurance.

It is essential that an agreement exist between attorney and client prior to commencement of any substantive legal services. It is in the client’s interest to know what the anticipated costs of the legal services will be before action is commenced, just as it 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 client and attorney 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. These are described as follows.

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.

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.

The attorney-client relationship is essentially a contractual matter. Both the client and the attorney have rights in this relationship subject to their contractual obligations. The attorney-client relationship can be terminated in any one of the following three ways: (1) completion of the legal service to the fee agreement; (2) discharge by the client; and (3) withdrawal by the attorney. These are discussed in sequence.

Where the legal service has been fully completed as contemplated in the initial a agreement, K & W will forward written notification to that effect, and further notify the client that the K & W file is thereby closed.  Since the attorney-client relationship is essentially consensual in nature, the client has the absolute right to discharge the attorney from further representation in the delivery of legal services.  Such a request must be made in writing and received by the attorney. The attorney must thereafter forward written acknowledgment of the discharge and notice that the K & W case file is thereby closed, and shall discontinue further representation.  In the event that the client has failed to honor or perform his obligations under the attorney client agreement, the attorney has a right to withdraw from further performance of legal services.  Such services will not be withheld unless the attorney has forwarded and the client receives written notification of withdrawal, and that the K& W case file is thereby closed.

An area of possible confusion concerns the client’s right to refund of legal fees paid, and the attorney’s right to compensation for legal services delivered and expenses incurred prior to discharge or withdrawal, whether or not a fee invoice has been received by the client at the time of discharge/withdrawal.  If the fee agreement was an hourly billing arrangement, a final billing statement shall be prepared and forwarded to the client, along with a trust account check representing the balance of the funds.  If the fee arrangement was a flat fee, a final billing statement shall be prepared and forwarded to the client, along with a check in the amount of the “appropriate refund.” The “appropriate refund” is the balance remaining from the total amount of fee payments made, after the initial retainer, expenses incurred, and hourly billing for the time devoted by the attorney and paralegal to that particular legal matter has been deducted.  While it is our intention to try to reach a mutually satisfactory accord with the client with respect to refunds following termination of the attorney-client relationship, that is not always possible. Should any disagreements remain concerning the right to further refund payments, the client is advised of the right to pursue this matter by contacting

• The Columbus Bar Association

• 175 South Third Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215

• (614) 221-4112

The K & W case file is the property of the client and may contain very important legal documents, although it may include other matters that are property of the attorney. Upon termination of the attorney-client relationship, the client has the absolute right to return of the case file from K&W forwarding a written request to do so and with the instructions of how it is to be forwarded.  In the absence of a written request for the case file, K &W agrees to securely store the closed case for a period of three (3) years from the time of notification that the case file has been closed.  Absent a timely and written request from the client following that period of time, it is conclusively presumed that the client has no further interest in the case file or its contents, and has abandoned further property rights therein. The case file will thereafter be shredded.

On behalf of the law firm of Kura & Wilford Co. L.P.A., we appreciate your decision to retain our legal services, and we look forward to our future professional relationship.

___________________________________ __________________________________

BARRY W. WILFORD, ESQ.

P. DENNIS PUSATERI, ESQ.

(Ohio Supreme Court Reg. #0014891) (Ohio Supreme Court Reg. #0017727)