tHeetHiCsof “ nonrefundABle ” legAlfees
Professionalism & Ethics Committee
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Note that simply terming a fee “ earned upon receipt ” does not overcome a lawyer ’ s ethical obligations to return unearned fees and to avoid charging excessive fees . Such “ earned upon receipt ” language merely indicates that funds may be placed into an operating account ( not a trust account ).
So , structure any flat fee legal agreement to deem the fees earned upon the passage of certain milestones , such as the stage of a case ( a ruling on a certain motion or the setting of a trial date ). Or track time by month even in flat fee cases . Certainly , for any truly nonrefundable “ availability fee ,” explain in a written engagement letter that accepting the representation meant making time commitments and assuming specific potential conflict of interest positions that prevented you from taking other clients and cases . Otherwise , a host of practical and ethical issues awaits : A violation of the strict rules against commingling client funds , a client ’ s suit for return of monies already spent by the attorney , or a bankruptcy court ruling that the fee payment was a fraudulent conveyance . n
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Available at https :// www . floridabar . org / etopinions / etopinion-93-2 /#:~: text = FLORIDA % 20BAR % 20ETHICS % 20OPINION % 20OPINION , placed % 20in % 20the % 20trust % 20account .
Author : Jonah Dickstein - Dickstein Law , P . A .
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