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
16 Charles Sevilla D No 1.5(e)(2) Subpart (2) adds uncertainty to the Rules.
While the Rule states that the fee is the
property of the attorney on receipt, this is
contradicted by the addition of the clause
stating the client, upon termination of the
relationship, can demand a refund. A fee
cannot be both an attorney’s property if it is
also subject to a client right of refund. This
makes the fee status uncertain and has direct
implications in matters of creditor rights and
government forfeiture claims.
Comment RRC Response
The client’s interest in fee contracts are
already protected in a number of areas: (1)
B&P Code section 6148; (2) CRPC Rule 3-
300; Hawk v. State Bar, In re Corona; (3)
CRPC Rule 3-700(D)(2); and (4) CRPC 4-
200, Bushman v. State Bar.
Many criminal defense lawyers are sole
practitioners who regularly charge flat fees for
routine criminal matters. This Rule
unnecessarily puts in place a condition that
essentially makes the fee fixed (or “flat”) only
at client sufferance. If the work for the
attorney is substantial, the client will be
content with a fixed fee. But if the attorney
entitled to a refund of a portion of the fee if
the agreed-upon legal services have not
been completed.
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
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.
RRC - 4-200 1-5 - Public Comment Chart - By Commenter - XDFT1.1 (5-26-10) doc.doc Page 27 of 28 Printed: 5/26/2010
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