It’s no secret that life is full of the unexpected. You simply never know what type of unpleasant experience might be lurking around the corner. And sometimes you’ll end up needing to hire a lawyer.
Hiring a lawyer can get expensive, especially for cases that will require extensive research and preparation. Fortunately, many law firms have begun to charge flat-fees. The legal model charges a flat fee rather than an hourly fee.
This article takes a look at law firm pricing and what to look for when it comes to comparing legal fees. Keep reading to get the inside scoop.
Pros & Cons of Flat-Fees
Flat-fees are also known as fixed fees. This essentially means that the client pays a single pre-arranged total fee for legal services. Paying a flat-fee has advantages and disadvantages. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons.
Pros
Quick & Efficient
When law firms charge traditional billable hours, the process can be slow and extremely inefficient. It can also result in a lot of inaccuracies. After all, there’s a lot of details to record and track.
Charging a flat-fee eliminates much of the inefficiency, and actually encourages the firm to resolve your case as quickly as possible.
Fewer Disputes Over Fees
Flat-fees are negotiated ahead of time. Because of this, the client knows exactly how much they will be paying for legal services. This can help reduce the amount of stress involved if a case takes longer than expected.
Potential Lower Cost
Billable hours can add up very quickly. Even cases that get resolved relatively quickly can be expensive. In those situations, a flat-fee can work to the client’s favor by keeping legal costs as low as possible.
Cons
The Potential for Speed Over Quality
When it comes to flat fees, it’s in the law firm’s interest to resolve the case as quickly as possible. Because of this, you might feel that the firm is rushing to complete the case quickly rather than focus on producing optimum results.
Loss of Transparency
Law firms that charge by traditional billable hours typically generate a detailed bill that shows the amount of time and resources dedicated to the completion of your case. This generally isn’t true of flat-fee billing. Thus you might not be able to check the accuracy of the amount billed for their legal services.
Potential for Overpayment
Not every case requires the same amount of time to wrap up. This means if your lawn firm completes a case quickly, you’ll end paying more than you might have with a billable hourspayment arrangement.
You will obviously want to see your case complete quickly, just make sure that you aren’t paying more than necessary for speedy results.
A Guide to the Flat-Fee Legal Model for Law Firms
Fighting a legal case can be an expensive process. That’s why you need to hire the best law firm you can afford. Fortunately, this guide to the flat-fee legal model will help you understand how to save money as much money as possible.
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