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Sample Fee Agreement
Including Child Custody

ATTORNEY-CLIENT FEE AGREEMENT

This document (the "Agreement") is the written fee contract that California law requires lawyers to have with their clients [Section 6148, Business and Professions Code]. I, JOHN R. HUGHES, will provide legal services to you, client's name, as my client on the terms set forth below. Unless a different Agreement is made in writing, this Agreement alone shall govern Attorney's and Client's respective rights and responsibilities.

1. SCOPE OF SERVICES. You are hiring me as your attorney to represent you in connection with issue and name of child. I agree to perform the following legal services, if necessary, with respect to the representation described above: represent you during settlement procedures, negotiations, arbitration or court hearing(s), until settlement, award or judgment is obtained; and if judgment is obtained in your favor, oppose any opposing party's motion for new trial (if any).

   You authorize me to associate or employ, at your expense, other counsel to assist in performing the services required by this Agreement, and to appear on your behalf in any proceeding or lawsuit concerning the matter(s) covered by this Agreement.

   I will provide those legal services reasonably required to represent you. I will take reasonable steps to keep you informed of progress and to respond to your inquiries. I will represent you through trial and post-trial motions. After judgment, I will not represent you on appeal or in execution proceedings. Unless you and I make a different agreement in writing, this agreement will govern all future services I may perform for you.

2. CLIENT'S DUTIES. You agree to: 1) be truthful with me; 2) cooperate with me; 3) keep me informed of developments regarding my representation; 4) abide by this agreement; 5) immediately contact my office and discuss any question(s) or objection(s) you may have regarding any charge on my office's periodic billing statements to you; 6) promptly pay the full amount of each of my office's periodic bills; and 7) to immediately notify me, both via telephone and in writing, of any changes of address, telephone numbers, and whereabouts. _______ (Client's initials)

3. INITIAL SECURITY DEPOSIT/RETAINER. You agree to pay me an initial security deposit/retainer of $5,000.00 (five thousand dollars even) on this date, and to maintain this balance at all times. I agree to place this initial security deposit/retainer in trust payment, as well as any future security deposit/retainer in trust payments which may be required, in my client trust account, and to account for the balance of all such sums. You hereby authorize me to periodically deduct outstanding amounts owed to me (or your entire deposit in trust balance then held in my client trust account, whichever is less) from your deposit in trust balance, and apply the amount deducted to your balance then owing me in connection with my representation of you in this case. This will be accomplished by transferring the amount from my client trust account to my operating account, and posting an offsetting payment to your account in my accounts receivable records. Should the balance of your security deposit/retainer account fall below $5,000.00 (five thousand dollars even) you agree to immediately replenish such balance to $5,000.00 (five thousand dollars even). You agree to pay all such replenishments of your deposit in trust balance within 5 (five) days of my demand, and to treat any periodic billing statement which indicates a balance below $5,000.00 (five thousand dollars even) as such demand. Once our professional relationship under this Agreement has concluded and you have paid all of my charges for fees and costs, I agree to promptly refund to you the entire remaining balance of your security deposit/retainer account, and any property of yours in then my possession. _______ (Client's initials)

4. PRE-TRIAL SECURITY DEPOSIT/RETAINER. Should this matter proceed by way of trial, you agree to pay me an additional security deposit/retainer of $5,000.00 (five thousand dollars even) on or before the 90th day preceding the first scheduled trial date of this matter. Thus, the total security deposit/retainer balance will be $10,000.00 (ten thousand dollars even) not later than 90 days prior to the first scheduled trial date (which is the sum of the initial security deposit/retainer and the pre-trial security deposit/retainer). We agree to handle this additional security deposit/retainer in the same manner as set forth in the immediately preceding paragraph above regarding the handling of the initial security deposit/retainer. _______ (Client's initials)

5. LEGAL FEES AND BILLING PRACTICES. You acknowledge that you have been advised by me, and are aware, that hourly fee arrangements are not set by law, and the fee between you and I is negotiable. Bearing in mind that the hourly fee is negotiable, you agree to pay me fees of: a) three hundred twenty five dollars ($325.00) per hour for family law specialist attorney time; b) two hundred seventy five dollars ($275.00) per hour for senior associate attorney time; c) two hundred twenty five dollars ($225.00) per hour for junior associate attorney time; and d) one hundred twenty five dollars ($125.00) per hour for paralegal time; for all time incurred by my office on your behalf. You agree this arrangement is fair and reasonable, and does not arise from coercion, intimidation, overreaching, or duress. _______ (Client's initials)
   
   I will charge you for all of the time spent on your matter, including but not limited to, telephone calls relating to your matter, whether these calls are with you, opposing counsel, court personnel, or others. I will charge for waiting time in court and elsewhere and for travel time, both local and out of town.
   
   I agree to provide you periodic statements detailing the fees and expense charges recorded as of the statement date. You agree to review all such statements promptly, and to immediately contact my office with any questions you may have regarding the nature, validity or fairness of any charges on such statement, and then to immediately notify me in writing of any charge or portion thereof which you wish to dispute, and your written notification to me must be received by me within 25 days of the statement date.
   
   We agree that if you should later attempt to dispute any charge or portion thereof, your failure to dispute such charge within the 25 day period set forth above shall act as a waiver of any right you may otherwise have had to recovery or adjustment. You may request a statement at intervals of no less than 30 days. If you do, my office will provide you with one within 10 days.
   
   I will endeavor to venture a "rough guess" of the total future costs under this Agreement which I believe your case will require to complete as soon as such a "rough guess" is reasonably possible, and to keep you reasonably informed of significant changes in my most recent "rough guesses". You agree to treat ANY statements I may make regarding the total future costs of your case under this Agreement as ROUGH GUESSES (MERE SPECULATION) (NOT calculated estimations or representations), and acknowledge that I have informed you that there are so many variables which can impact your legal fees and costs, that this figure is truly unknowable by me in even broad terms._______ (Client's initials)

6. COSTS AND OTHER CHARGES.

   1. In General. I will incur various costs and expenses on your behalf in performing legal services under this agreement. You agree to pay for those costs and expenses in addition to the hourly fees. The costs and expenses necessary in this case may include any or all of the following items (This list is not exclusive; other items may also be necessary): court filing fees; fees fixed by law or assessed by courts and other agencies; process serving fees; court reporter's fees; jury fees; mail, messenger and other delivery charges; parking and other local travel; long distance telephone charges; photocopying (in office and out); word processing charges; and computerized legal research.

   2. Experts, Consultants, and Investigators. To aid in the preparation of your case, it may become necessary to hire private investigators; photographers; graphic artists; mediators; arbitrators; experts for consultation, evaluation, and/or appearance at deposition or trial; legal consultants; and/or other experts or consultants. You hereby authorize me to hire such persons on your behalf when I believe your case warrants such hiring. I agree to keep you reasonably informed of such hiring. You agree to advance all fees in connection with such experts, consultants, and investigators promptly upon my instruction to you. _______ (Client's initials)

   3. Out of Town Travel. You agree to pay transportation, meals, lodging and all other costs of any necessary out-of-town travel by me. You will also be charged the hourly rate for the time I spend traveling.

7. LIEN. You hereby grant me a lien on any and all claims or causes of action that are the subject of this Agreement. My lien will be for any sums owing to me at the conclusion of my services. The lien will attach to any recovery you may obtain, whether by arbitration award, judgment, settlement, or otherwise.

8. DISCHARGE AND WITHDRAWAL. You may discharge me at any time, and you agree to inform me directly in writing of such discharge. I may withdraw from representing you at any time with your consent or for good cause, and I agree to inform you directly of such discharge. You promise not to unreasonably withhold your consent to my withdrawal. We agree that good cause includes your breach of this agreement, your refusal to cooperate with me or to follow my advice on a material matter, any fact or circumstance presently unrecognized by me as a hardship that I may in the future come to recognize would render my continuing representation of you a hardship upon me or unlawful or unethical.
   
   In the event of either my discharge by you, or my withdrawal from representing you, I agree to promptly prepare the necessary documents to end my representation, and we agree to both execute such documents immediately. Should you withhold your consent to my withdrawal, or fail to execute and return to my office the necessary documents to end my representation within 10 days of mailing of same from my office to your last known address, I will take the steps necessary to seek a court order approving my withdrawal without your consent. Should I obtain such a court order, you promise to pay for me for all of the time and out-of-pocket costs expended to obtain such order.

9. DISCLAIMER OF GUARANTEE. Nothing in this agreement and nothing in my statements to you shall be construed as a promise or guarantee about the outcome of your matter. I make no such promises or guarantees. My comments about the outcome of your matter are expressions of opinion only.

10. ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES: If a dispute arises between you and I regarding my claims against you for fees or costs under this Agreement, or your claims against me in connection with my obligations arising out of this Agreement, such dispute shall be submitted to binding arbitration. This includes any claim against me for breach of contract, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty or other wrongdoing. Such arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association.
    
    The arbitrator shall have discretion to order the losing party in the arbitration proceedings to reimburse the prevailing party for all costs and fees incurred in connection with the arbitration, including, without limitation, attorney fees and arbitrator fees.
    
    YOUR INITIALS BELOW SIGNIFY YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE FOLLOWING EXPLANATION:
    
    You acknowledge that I have explained to you that, by signing this Agreement, we are agreeing to have any issue of legal malpractice or fees/costs decided by binding neutral arbitration, and that by agreeing to arbitration we are giving up various legal and constitutional rights we otherwise might have in a legal action, including the right to a jury trial and the right to appeal. _______ (Client's initials)

11. RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS. After our professional relationship under this Agreement has concluded, upon your written request, I agree to make the records and documents of your case then in my possession available to you for copying by a local copy professional.

12. NOTICE. Proof of mailing to any party to this agreement, at there last known mailing address, of any written communication called for under this Agreement (including, but not limited to demands, notices, statements, requests, etc.) shall be deemed proof of receipt by the addressee.

13. PARTIAL INVALIDITY DOES NOT INVALIDATE THE WHOLE. Should any of the provisions of this agreement be declared, or be determined by any court, to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of the agreement shall continue in full force and effect and shall in no way be impaired or invalidated.

14. EFFECTIVE DATE. This agreement will become binding when we have both executed it by our signature, but its effective date will be retroactive to the date I first performed legal services on your behalf in this matter.

15. ACKNOWLEDGMENT. We acknowledge that we have read and fully understand all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement before signing it, and that we have received a copy of this Agreement upon execution thereof.

Executed at Placerville, California on the ____ of _________________, 2008.

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