The goal of this program is to allow the client company an opportunity to secure a specific amount of legal services each month at the equivalent of a reduced rate. The program is designed for a long-term relationship between the client and the attorney. The reduced rate is achieved by establishing payment based upon a retainer amount that is earned and payable each month regardless of the amount of work actually performed by the attorney. The monthly fee is determined by the number of hours allocated to the client each month.
There is an “initial fee” due on each plan because of the efforts required to setup the accounts and files for the client and to prevent abuse of the system such as a client signing up for a program to take advantage of the lower effective hourly rate under the plan for just one or two months. However, there is no binding term to the agreement and the client is free to terminate the representation at any time. The Monthly Retainer Agreement will specify a list of the services that are included in the plan and each plan is designed, based upon the client’s needs, to include client specific services.
VALUE. The Monthly Retainer Program brings value to your company. The obvious concern for anyone considering one of these plans is that they will not use all of the allotted time and thus “waste” money. To alleviate that concern, each plan’s fee structure is based on sixty percent of the normal hourly rate. So as long a client uses over sixty percent of the allotted time in any plan, the client receives the benefit of a discounted hourly rate. In addition, clients participating in the Monthly Retainer Program receive a discounted hourly rate for any time billed in excess of the allotted hours in their plan as specified in the Retainer Agreement.
CERTAINTY. No doubt about the monthly costs of legal fees for planning purposes. Pick a plan based upon your anticipated needs and you will know that as long as you stay within the limits of the plan, that is all you will pay for legal services. There is no uncertainty or surprise as there often is with hourly billing. No unknown or unanticipated hours that create unexpected monthly bills.
CONVENIENCE. No need to go through the process of retaining an attorney for each legal matter that arises. The plan allows a business owner the convenience and security of knowing he or she can call an attorney for legal advice at any point without having to worry how much that phone call will cost.