Charging standards [case negotiation stage]

In criminal cases in my country, parties may have prejudices and misunderstandings about lawyers' fees, and the idea of ​​​​"doing the work first and talking about the money later" often appears. This is not unrelated to the lack of public disclosure of fee standards by law firms. It is also an objective fact that there are differences in fees between different law firms.

FasterLawyer recommends that law firms publicize the law firm's fee standards in the office, make it clear during the case negotiation stage, and keep complete records of the fee negotiation process, distinguishing lawyer service fees, litigation fees, arbitration fees, and appraisal fees in the records. , notary fees and other fees. Relevant fees should be confirmed in the transcripts and entrustment agreements during the case negotiation stage. When charging attorney fees, transportation fees, etc., a lawyer service bill should be issued in accordance with the law. Among them, the flexibility of travel expenses is relatively large, and law firms should be more cautious in handling travel charges. Under normal circumstances, travel expenses are divided into three payment methods, namely the lump sum system, the reimbursement system, and the party pays system. FasterLawyer recommends adopting a party-pays system, that is, after the itinerary is determined, the party concerned directly pays the relevant expenses, which can greatly reduce the possibility of disputes with the client. It should be noted that no matter which method is used, charging notes should be issued within the legal period to avoid private charges.

Based on the actual process, the lawyer should first clearly inform the client of the law firm's charging standards, that is, the basis for the law firm's unified external charging services. On this basis, the lawyer can negotiate with the client to determine the legal service fee. Once the fee is confirmed It should not be changed later.

For travel expenses, lawyers should comprehensively analyze and provide a budget amount based on the specific circumstances of the case and the traffic conditions at the place where the case is handled, and further negotiate according to the payment methods mentioned above, and indicate the corresponding expenses in the entrustment agreement.

The above legal basis is Article 25 of the Lawyers Law of the People's Republic of China :

When a lawyer handles business , the law firm accepts the entrustment , signs a written entrustment contract with the client , collects fees uniformly in accordance with national regulations and records them truthfully in the account . . Law firms and lawyers should pay taxes in accordance with the law .