FAQ

What should I expect from my lawyer?
How often will I hear from you?
How do you determine the manner and amount of fee you will charge?
What should I do if I move or my phone number changes?

Q: What should I expect from my lawyer?

We will pursue your legal interest aggressively limited only by the law and our profession's rules of conduct.

We will earnestly attempt to keep you informed about your case. Fortunately, we are a thriving law firm with many clients with various needs. Unfortunately, we are not always at the office to take your call or respond to your correspondence immediately. We must prioritize our various clients' needs so that all cases may be attended to. This means that you may not always get a call back or confirmation of a correspondence from us immediately. However, you have every right to expect a response from someone at our office within a reasonable amount of time. On occasion you may receive a response from someone working at our direction and under our supervision. We do this because we want you to receive a response even if we are currently engaged in another matter. Although you will certainly be involved in your case, much of the work being done is being accomplished without your direct involvement. After all that is what you hired us for.

You have our loyalty. We will be faithful advocates for you. This does not mean that you are always going to hear what you want from us. It does mean that we will disagree with one another. The legal system is adversarial in nature and a a lot is usually on the line; therefore, often times discussions may become heated or emotional. This is not uncommon given the circumstances that brought you to us. However, we must direct you in a manner consistent with the law and not necessarily according to common sense.

You will receive our best effort. We will apply our intellect, passion, and experience to your cause. We are not perfect but we are sincere in our desire to do all that we can to help.

We will not pursue causes that will not reasonably benefit or assist your case. Experience has taught us that filing or arguing positions not supported by the facts or law diminishes the persuasiveness of your more valid positions. We have no desire to impress you by "looking busy." By the same token, we will pursue positions that we feel are important to your case regardless if others perceive our pursuit as antagonistic or petty.

We will seek independent review of issues on occasion. At times we may not have the answer to every question or issue that may arise. Sometimes we simply like to bounce an idea off of another professional to assist us in analyzing your case. We do this to better assist you. Of course we are mindful of your privacy and our obligation of confidentiality to you.

We understand that you may have financial limitations. Although we will not assume unreasonable financial risk to the firm simply because you are unwilling to pay for recommended expenses, we will try to be creative in doing what we can to get as much bang for your buck as possible. In fact, we pride ourselves on some of the creative ways we have been able to present a client's case.

Q: How often will I hear from you?

A: We will sincerely attempt to keep you reasonably informed. A point of contention for most clients is that the lawyer does not communicate enough with them about the case. This concern arises for a number of reasons. First, the case is very important to the client and often times is the most pressing issue in the client's life at the time. Often times the case is a unique experience that the client may never experience again. Understandably, the client is thinking of the case continuously. A client may become anxious because he or she has not received an immediate response. A client may feel neglected because he or she does not feel that the lawyer is keeping him or her up to date. A client may feel that he or she has told the lawyer a point several times and it does not appear to be getting through to the lawyer.

In contrast, the lawyer has many similar cases. The lawyer has experienced litigation often. In fact, you most likely want an experienced lawyer working on your case. Throughout the day or during the week, the lawyer is communicating with clients, opposing counsel, courts, clerks, witnesses, care providers, etc. In addition, he must attend court appearances and appointments. Some appearances such as a trial will consume the entire day with the evenings being dedicated to preparation for the next day or other emergencies that may arise. This results in a delayed response or a response from another individual in the firm. After all we pay our staff to assist us in working on your case and answer your call. Keep in mind that each client feels as you do and the lawyer must prioritize the level of attention that must be applied to each particular case at any particular time. This means that sometimes your case is receiving the exclusive attention of the lawyer at a particular time; however, at other times your case is awaiting a response from another party or additional documentation and for a lack of a better word is sitting idle. Calling frequently when the status of the case has not changed does not benefit you or other clients. Specifically, since we will make every attempt to communicate with you, continuously responding to issues that have already been addressed or have already been identified takes valuable time from your case and the cases of other clients.

At your request and after being fully advised of the consequences of sharing information with others, we will communicate to others about your case, however, having multiple people calling about your case further limits our ability to effectively communicate with clients.

IF WE DID NOT GET BACK TO YOU WITHIN A DAY OR TWO.....CALL AGAIN. We want you to be informed.

Q: How do you determine the manner and amount of fee you will charge?

A: Our office charges a fee in three ways depending on the type of case involved:

     (1) Flat Fee
     (2) Hourly Fee
     (3) Contingency Fee

Flat Fee Structure: In most criminal cases our firm charges a flat fee upfront. A flat fee may also be charged in other matters. In its simplest terms a flat fee means a one-time fee that is paid to represent you to the "conclusion" of your case. If the firm does not complete the representation for any reason, you may be entitled to a refund of all or part of the fee. "Conclusion" for purposes of our representation means either a trial or an acceptable plea offer. Our fee does not include filing of an appeal, motions for judicial relief, post conviction relief, probation or community control sanction violation hearings, or motions for expungement or to seal a record. A flat fee does not include case expenses such as filing fees and costs for investigators or experts. You are responsible for case expenses in addition to the flat fee paid for our legal services.

The flat fee arrangement is beneficial to you and us for the following reasons:

      (a) It provides you with the peace of mind that you have representation through the "conclusion" of your matter. We will not require any additional fee during your case regardless of the amount of time expended or the complexity of the issues.

      (b) It provides us with the certainty that we are fully compensated and removes the uncomfortable situation of approaching you about payment during the course of the representation. In other words, we are focusing on representing you and your case and not on meeting you about getting paid or worrying about the business aspect of the practice of law.

      (c) It allocates the financial burden of being involved in the legal process fairly. Simply put, in some cases, you may receive the benefit of countless hours and progressive arguments for a set fee. In other cases, we may be able to satisfactorily resolve your case based on our experience and reputation without much fanfare.

Hourly Fee Structure: An hourly fee is a fee that is charged strictly based on the time involved in your case and is charged at a set rate per hour. It is not unusual for an initial deposit to be required prior to accepting employment to ensure payment as work is completed. In some instances, additional deposits may be required during the course of the representation. For your convenience and in order to accurately reflect the time spent on your case we track our time in tenths of an hour. For example, if we spend 1/2 hour on the telephone discussing your case, we bill you for 5/10 of an hour. Under our hourly fee agreement, you will be charged for all the time spent on your case regardless of how simple or complex the task. This includes telephone calls. You are also responsible for the expenses of your case not associated with our legal fee. You will receive periodic statements from us tracking the time we have spent on your case. Our hourly fee ranges between $150.00 to $200.00 per hour. You will be specifically advised the hourly rate you will be charged on your case.

Contingency Fee Structure: Under the rules of professional conduct for lawyers in the State of Ohio, a separate written fee agreement is required in cases that involve contingency fees. You will receive a detailed fee agreement in all cases that our firm takes on a contingent basis. We typically charge a contingent fee of 33.33% of the gross amount of any settlement or verdict obtained. The fee does not include litigation expenses or an appeal.

HOW OUR FEE WAS DETERMINED:

We base our fee on many factors including the following:

(1) The time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service;
(2) The likelihood that the acceptance of your particular case will preclude other employment for us;
(3) The fee customarily charged in this area for similar issues;
(4) What is at stake and the results obtained;
(5) The urgency or time limitations imposed by you or by the circumstances;
(6) The nature and length of our professional relationship with you;
(7) Our experience, reputation, and abilities in a particular area of law;
(8) Whether the fee is fixed or contingent.

Prior to retaining us and subject to our profession's code of conduct, you have the right to negotiate the manner and amount of legal fee we charge. For example, you may wish to pay us on an hourly fee basis for a civil matter rather than on a contingent fee basis. However, we are not obligated to accept your terms and may refuse representation. Once employment is accepted under agreed terms, we are not interested in changing the terms at a later date. This policy is a significant benefit to you and to us. We will not change the terms at a later date to a fee structure more lucrative for us after the fact. Nor will we accept any attempt by you to do the same.

Hiring us for one case does not mean we represent you on other matters. We are happy to consider representing you on other matters but only after we have discussed the matter and come to an agreement.
Q: What should I do if I move or my phone number changes?

A:   You should contact us immediately if your address or phone number changes. It is important that your information is current so that our office can contact your regarding your case or inform you of any upcoming events.

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DeGenova & Yarwood, Ltd.

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