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
The proposal has not been adequately
publicized.
14 Greenberg, Stanley D Proposed rule would have detrimental effect
on defendants accused of crimes, their ability
to retain counsel to assure representation
throughout the matter.
Agreement to pay a flat fee represents a
negotiated compromise in which both sides
assume certain risks.
Agrees with Barry Tarlow’s comments.
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
payments in paragraph (e) of the Rule to provide as
follows:
(2) a lawyer may charge a flat fee for specified
legal services, which constitutes complete
payment for those services and may be paid
in whole or in part in advance of the lawyer
providing the services. If agreed to in
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
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