Diane Karpman, a legal ethics expert, has the following reminders for “tuning up” attorney-client retention agreements:
- Lawyers should consult the State Bar fee forms on the California State Bar website, because they represent the “gold standard”—tested, blessed and familiar to fee arbitrators.
- Include a disclaimer of any guarantee, result or successful outcome.
- Specifically delineate the scope of duties, especially in “limited scope” representations.
- List the services that are excluded from the scope of the retention (such as appellate work, post-trial motions and collections).
- Cooperation clauses are necessary additions to retention agreements.
- Consider clauses for file retention, document destruction, arbitration and methods of communications.
Ms. Karpman’s article “Time for tuning up those fee agreements,” can be found in the February 2010 edition of the California Bar Journal.