The attorney charges one fee that often covers both their time, their staff’s time, and sometimes the estimated costs for the entire legal matter. This fee may be billed and collected up front, or billed to the client in installment payments.
In Texas, if the lawyer collects the entire fee up front, they must explain to the client at what point during the representation that the fee is “earned” by the lawyer. For example, a lawyer may bill a fixed amount at a certain stage of the legal representation, much like a contractor would bill at a certain stage of a renovation or building project. Any “unearned” flat fee or fixed fee amount that is collected up front, must be deposited to the client trust account (IOLTA).
PRO: The client knows up front, exactly how much their legal matter will cost.
CON: Lawyers who bill a case as a flat fee or fixed fee are generally charging you the average cost of what it takes them to complete a particular type of legal matter, plus a profit allowance. This means that if the lawyer is efficient with their time, or if the client’s matter is “easy” to complete, the Lawyer pockets the savings, not the client.
Although fixed fees may be tempting for an uncontested court matter, consider whether your case really is “easy”, and request a billable hour fee instead. Additionally, if the flat fee is low or very discounted, the services you get may not include much time with the lawyer, outside of their appearance in court. You may be speaking only with law firm staff like legal assistants or paralegals. Ask how many hours of time you will get to spend with your lawyer for the “flat” fee you are paying.
