Sorted by Commenter - Ethics - State of California

Clients and lawyers , for that matter, prefer fee
simple, the shorter the better and the less confusion the better. s provisions
and comments, however, are rife with ambiguity, inconsistency, and confusion.
a.
As set out above at p. 13 , Comment (5) prohibits attorneys from entering into:
an agreement whereby
amount when it is foreseeable that more extensive services probably will be
required, unless the situation is adequately explained to the client."
It fails to provide any guidance on what it means to "adequately explain" the "situation.
Paragraph (e) would force attorneys in any complicated case not only to speculate about
what services "probably will be required " but somehow also to "adequately explain" this
situation" to the client, without any
meaningful analysis of the case. It is unclear how a lawyer can "adequately explain" the
situation" to the , with
reasonable degree of certainty, whether and what "more extensive services probably will
be required" and how much work will be necessary to complete these potential
prior to meaningfully evaluating the case.
client must pay for: " consultation fee" to cover
adequately explain" the case before receiving any discovery.
In practice, it is often difficult for
the work that needs to be done in any reasonably complex case since, for example, often
no one really knows which cases will go to trial and which will be
cases and in the criminal law context, in most felony cases, particularly in anything that is
relatively complicated, a lawyer cannot obtain discovery to assess the merits of the case
(and also to determine whether or not a lawyer wants to take on the case) before
retained. Even if retained, it is unusual in a criminal or civil case for a lawyer to obtain
any discovery before a complaint is filed. , practitioners in complex civil
or criminal cases often use hybrid , a
agreement are negotiable and he may wish to seek the assistance of other
counsel in determining whether it is fair and reasonable.
45 Most people rarely read complex and
expensive purchases, (2) title policies for the purchase of a home, (3) bank notes (other
than the sum due and the interest rate), and (4) insurance policies.
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