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Attorney Fees – Tips For Saving Money When Hiring Lawyers and Other Professionals

It’s no secret that hiring an attorney, accountant or other professional can often be an expensive proposition. However, clients can make changes in their behavior that can help to reduce their total professional bill. Here are four tips for keeping your hourly billing invoices as low as reasonably possible:

Consolidate Numerous Questions: Many clients will call their accountant immediately when they have a question. While a professional is more than happy to take your calls as their schedules allow, many “quick questions” can lead to higher costs for the client, because the accountant needs to divert her attention from one matter to another. Instead, consider writing down any non-emergency questions and call when you have several questions at once. This will allow the professional to spend time focusing on your particular matter and answer more efficiently than if the questions were asked via several separate phone conversations or office visits.

Communicate via E-Mail: E-mail has several advantages over phone calls, letters or personal visits. First, e-mail is often easier for a professional to file and record. This assists the attorney or accountant in efficiently answering your questions. Second, the professional can be sure to have the answer by the time he or she responds, compared to a phone call where the client’s file is not immediately available to the attorney. Like telephone calls, try to save multiple questions and put them all into one e-mail, so your attorney has a better chance to answer all your questions at once.

Respond to Requests in a Timely Manner: Your attorney will likely have questions for you throughout his or her work on your legal matter. Just as your accountant will do for you, it is important that you respond to any requests as quickly as possible. Forcing a professional to make several attempts to get in touch with a client increases costs.

Review Materials Carefully: Your attorney will typically provide copies of the important documents in your matter, such as your retainer agreement, your invoices, and other important documents such as pleadings or contracts. Reviewing your copies carefully costs you nothing and can often assist you in answering your own questions.

While costs can be controlled to some extent with the tips above, remember that your professional agent’s primary interest and duty is in protecting your interests. He or she must take all the procedural steps necessary to fully represent you. Implementing the practices recommended in this article allows a client to reduce the costs within his or her control, but you should always be wary of “going too far” and restricting a professional’s ability to fully represent your legal or financial interests.

Eric Menhart is an attorney with CyberLaw P.C., where he concentrates in commercial litigation and intellectual property matters for small businesses.

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