Sorted by Commenter - Ethics - State of California

No. Commenter Position 1
Comment
on Behalf
of Group?
Rule 1.5 Fees for Legal Services.
[Sorted by Commenter]
Rule
Paragraph
RRC - 4-200 1-5 - Public Comment Chart - By Commenter - DFT3.1 (10-21-09)RD-KEM-AT-RD.doc
Comment RRC Response
Nonrefundability of the fee should not be
affected even if some of the work ends up not
having been done (e.g. quick settlement or
client changes his mind after attorney has
declined other employment opportunities to
make himself available for the client).
8 Clarence, Nanci D Proposal has not been sufficiently publicized
in a manner that permits members to
respond.
Exposes lawyers to financial risk.
Will result in increased legal fees and limit
advance in a writing signed by the client, a
flat fee is the lawyer’s property on receipt.
The written fee agreement shall, in a
manner that can easily be understood by
the client, include the following: (i) the scope
of the services to be provided; (ii) the total
amount of the fee and the terms of
payment; (iii) that the fee is the lawyer’s
property immediately on receipt; (iv) that the
fee agreement does not alter the client’s
right to terminate the client-lawyer
relationship; and (v) that the client may be
entitled to a refund of a portion of the fee if
the agreed-upon legal services have not
been completed.
The proposal was issued for a 90-day public
comment period posted on the State Bar website
and was also the subject of a public hearing in
Sacramento that was noticed by several methods,
including: a posting at the State Bar website;
public notices in the Daily Journal, the Daily
Recorder, and the Sacramento Bee; e-mail
notifications to approximately 14,000 interested
persons; and a press release to the media.
To address the commenter’s concerns but still
provide for enhanced client protection, the
Commission revised the approach to advance fee
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