Robert J O'Regan

Robert O'Regan

Unfortunately, a client's description of the facts and the issues involved sometimes do not coincide with the facts and legal issues as they develop and over which the lawyer has no control. Fee agreements disclose that an additional retainer may be requested depending on the circumstances of a case. I believe that this posting refers to a bill for work performed, not a request for additional retainer. Some attorneys accept a retainer and charge against the retainer immediately for work being performed and thus deplete the retainer. As a result, these types of retainers are often set at a high level to cover the immediate costs for the case and longer-view fees and expenses that are anticipated. My usual practice is to apply a retainer against a final bill, based on a commitment from the client to pay periodic invoices when rendered. This accommodation allows for a lower initial retainer, with the expectation that the client will pay his or her bills on time. There will be occasions when accommodations on periodic invoices will be requested by a client in light of the client's financial resources, and we do our best to honor those requests. As for the request to have a younger associate attorney work on the case, the posted perception that the associate could have done well in the case reflects the supervision that this associate received from myself and others designed to allow our associates to develop, which the above post indicates was successful, but what it does not reveal is that I do not charge the education and supervision time for associates so that, in this instance, the billing was actually lower than a client may have seen from other firms that do not have these policies.