There are a number of specialties within the law that lend themselves to requiring a legal retainer. A few areas that tend to require retainers are family law, criminal law, estate law, contract law, and property law. Family law CANNOT be done on a contingent fee basis, pursuant to our ethical guidelines, so it must be done on an hourly pay or flat fee basis. Because most family law cases are really time consuming, lawyers require a retainer to be paid up front. Criminal defense is another area that lends itself to the requirement of a retainer, as it almost always ends up with at least one court appearance, and is rather labor intensive.
Estate law and contract law are more likely to be done on a flat fee basis than family law or criminal defense, but they can still be done on a retainer basis. Estate law entails estate planning services, probates, etc., and contract law could entail contract review for a corporation, drafting contracts for individuals or businesses, etc.. Usually a contract attorney will work for a company and bill hourly for contract drafting and review against a retainer.
Property law is a little more broad than the previous categories. Property law can be everything from drafting buy/sell agreements for real estate, to fighting over easements, and everything in between. Some of these cases are done on a contingent fee basis, and some are done on an hourly basis. It really depends on the situation, as with most of the foregoing areas of the law.
”Criminal Defense Law”
Criminal defense is almost always done on a retainer basis, and LARGE retainers at that. The more court hearings you have in a matter, the higher the bill will be. Criminal matters tend to start with an arraignment (court hearing), and proceed towards a final trial. Hopefully the two sides will reach a plea bargain along the way, but if not legal defense is extremely expensive and criminal defense lawyers pretty much always charge a retainer.
”Divorce and Family Law”
If you hire a Montana divorce lawyer, chances are that you will be charged a retainer. As mentioned, we cannot do divorce work on a contingent fee basis. So, hourly billing or flat fee work is the only way that divorce and family law lawyers can bill. I offer many flat fee services, which are not generally offered by Montana divorce lawyers. Usually that is because lawyers can make more money with hourly billing.
”Estate Law”
Estate law can really run the gamut for retainers. Getting estate help can look like everything from getting a simple will done, to setting up elaborate family trusts, to doing a contested probate. For simple wills, a lot of lawyers do flat fee wills. I offer a flat fee will for $200 here. For larger jobs, estate lawyers will generally charge a retainer fee and bill hourly out of the retainer.
”Contract Law”
Contract law, like all of these other areas, can vary widely. Oftentimes a contract attorney is hired on by a company or organization, and they have one attorney who reviews contracts and drafts contracts for them. In these cases, the organization will keep that lawyer “on retainer,” so that whenever they shoot the attorney a contract for review, the attorney is paid up and ready to go.
”Property Law”
Property law, again, varies wildly. You could have a long, drawn out legal battle of an easement, or you could just be drafting a buy/sell agreement for some real estate. Depending on the size of the task at hand, a property lawyer could ask for a retainer, or could charge a flat fee.
FAQs
Are you a retainer firm?
Generally I am not doing full representation retainer work at this time, I am mostly focusing on my flat fee offerings because they are keeping me very busy. I do offer limited scope representation for certain situations, and those cases are done on a retainer basis. If you want to go over your case and situation, you can book a phone consult with me and we can discuss your options.
Does every Montana divorce lawyer charge a retainer?
No, not necessarily. Many a montana divorce lawyer will do work on a straight billable basis, some do work on a flat fee basis.
How does a retainer work for a lawyer?
I go over that question in depth here, but the short version is that a retainer is an amount of money paid to the lawyer at the commencement of their services. The amount goes into a trust account. It is your money, it is just in the lawyer’s account. The lawyer bills their time and expenses out of the retainer, and provides you with regular statements of the status of the amount in the retainer. When the matter concludes, if there is money left, you get a refund. If there is not money left, you get a bill.
Let Fox Law Firm Help You!
Retainer services span far and wide across a number of legal specialities. Here at Fox Law Firm, we aim to keep your costs down and are flat fee focused. If you have any questions about how retainers work, or how my retainer services differ from my flat fee services, feel free to contact us today!
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