The Court Of Public Opinion

Very few people sit around, trying to think of ways to pay their lawyer MORE money. Actually, they are probably sitting around, thinking that THEIR lawyer is sitting around, thinking about ways to CHARGE more money. This isn’t true - lawyers can charge plenty of money ethically, because litigation is complex, and usually involves hours of preparation. Lawyers usually charge by the hour. Hours of preparation. Hourly rate. Hours hours hours…

So how do you keep the lawyer fees down? REDUCE the hours the lawyer charges for preparation! In other words, there are things you can gather or prepare for your case, that could be done by your lawyer. If they are done by you, the cost to you is time.

For example, let’s take a divorce, with a modest estate, with custody at dispute. Since the divorce involves property, give your lawyer the last 4 or 5 bank statements, portfolio statements, 401(k) or pension statements, and other such investment and financial statements. Own a house? Provide the last appraisal. No appraisal? In that case, it’s actually cheaper to just order one right now, because it’s going to come in eventually. Oh, and all the same documents for your spouse (don’t break any laws getting the documents, however. It’s not necessary). Make a list of all your deductions fromyour paycheck, utility bills, monthly payments (like car payments, insurance, etc.), other regular payments (like quarterly tax payments, real estate taxes, etc.). Your locality may have a form for this, but do it now on your own.

INVENTORY YOUR HOUSE! There is NOTHING more important than to have an accurate list of the items in your house. If anything is declared on insurance riders, like jewelry or musical instruments, include that also. Take pictures of every room, with the furniture in its usual place. If you have receipts for items you purchased, get them! Make a note of any item you think is not or should not be marital property. You may be wrong on everything, but having such a list makes it easier to review and develop strategy with your lawyer.

Income is usually looked at, so bring your last 4 or 5 Federal and state income tax returns and attachments, 6 months of pay stubs and bonuses, and statements showing investment income. If you run your own business, your books! Profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and checking account statements. Same information for your spouse, if you can get it easily. Bring any documents showing the existence of loans.

Where custody is involved, get school records, medical records, pickup and dropoff logs at the daycare, diaries, letters from the children to you, counseling records, and the like. Go through your check book (if it’s your name or is a joint account) and make a list of checks you wrote for ANYTHING involving the children. If it’s a joint account, then list EVERY check involving the children, whether you or your spouse actually wrote the check, because a joint account means it is your money, regardless of who wrote the check.

Finally, SUMMARIZE! First, ask your lawyer to ASK you to summarize. That way it’s work product and can’t be discovered by the other side. Summaries are excellent tools to save you money on lawyer fees by focusing the lawyer on the important facts. At the same time, summaries help you remember key points, and develop the story of your case.

The suggestions in this article will save you money, by saving your lawyer the time to gather these documents. It might annoy you,to do what you hired a lawyer to do … until you remember that you hired your lawyer to PRESENT the case. Take yourself out to dinner on the money you save!

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A ruling, on the books since 1972, called the Safe Harbor Provisions states, in part, the federal anti-kickback law’s main purpose is to protect patients and the federal health care programs from fraud and abuse by curtailing the corrupting influence of money on health care decisions… it goes on to say, … anyone who knowingly and willfully receives or pays anything of value to influence the referral of federal health care program business, including Medicare and Medicaid, can be held accountable for a felony. See http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/safeharborregulations/safefs.htm

Violations of the law are punishable by up to five years in prison, criminal fines up to $25,000, administrative civil money penalties up to $50,000, and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs.

A referral service serves both the senior and the elder care service provider in this manner:

Service providers register with the referral service

A senior searching for a service is asked for their location

The referral company now emails, phones or faxes each service within the desired zip code to provide you with this referral. (You are provided the name, phone number and address of the senior)

You and your staff quickly respond - you know if you get there first, you have a higher chance of contracting with the senior

The senior now receives multiple sales calls from nice people who all say the same thing, You should choose my company because we are the best

You contract with the senior

The referral company now sends you a bill. The bill is normally based on the dollar amount you charge the senior.

(Example: An assisted living facility that charges $3,000 per month will typically owe the referral service a fee of $1,500. Their neighbor, the assisted living facility across the street charges $1,500 per month and will owe the same referral service a fee for $750.00 for the same client, same service)

Representatives of referral companies normally earn commissions. This can also pose a concern. If a family’s income depended on earning a high commission, the temptation may be there to direct a senior to a service that

a. Charges more

b. Where the staff has a history of ‘closing’ the sale.

If your business is searching for a legal method to connect with the senior market, see http://www.qualityeldercare.com Searching for a service? See http://www.seniorsapprove.com

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Securing outside counsel is crucial to any business regardless of the industry or size. However, more than 60% of legal departments within businesses gave serious thought to firing outside legal support in 2001. The number one reason for this consideration was a problem with communication and response. Then when you consider the expense associated with outside counsel, along with a large movement of lawyers, the numbers of unhappy clients in the past five years have increased.

One of the most important factors when hiring outside counsel is to do your homework, know the law firm, as well as what they represent. After all, establishing a secure relationship is a win-win situation for both parties. To ensure you work with the right outside counsel, you will need to measure services offered with price, communication, responsiveness, professionalism, and areas of expertise. Today, we see many large (and small) corporations consolidating services with outside law firms as a means of tightening up operations, and with great success.

Okay, so what is the key to success when looking for and securing outside counsel? The formula is not difficult but it is precise. For starters, look for a law firm that wants and values your input. The foundation of a strong relationship is two-way communication. The firm should actively keep you abreast of changes, and concerns. However, communication is not simply conveying information but also listiening. In other words, if outside counsel does not take the time to listen to the client, to hear and understand potential risks and goals, then the relationship will never work.

Law firms should take the time to learn about your companys technologies and capabilities. For example, every company has different needs. Whether legal support and advice, technology, or software choices, a law firm needs to take the time to understand the client, their business, the competitive threats and the opportunities. In this way, outside counsel would not only have a comprehensive understanding of your business but also your specific requirements to run that business. Outside counsel should also be fully vested in your financial interests. Their work plan should include ways to cut costs for your company while adding to or maximizing profitability. A good law firm committed to serving your needs, can add value to your operations by identifying ways that you could better utilize your internal systems, as well as their services.

Good legal counsel can also aid you in growing your business. They would teach you about implementing systems, marketing, and using tactics for surviving against your competitors while also providing support in legal matters. Keep in mind that even if you were to find a law firm you liked, as a best practice meet with three, four, or five outside firms to make sure you choose wisely. A good law firm will show you ways of thinking outside the box, and using innovation to drive business results.

Taking time to understand and clearly articulate your needs will facilitate your evaluation of options for outside counsel. You will develop a very specific set of criteria which you can use to objectively measure potential law firms. Doing so will ensure that not only have you chose a firm that is competent but one that partner with you in your business to achieve your specific goals. Being able to clearly communicate with your law firm will not only enable you to effectively evaluate them but will also set the tone for what will hopefully be a long term, mutually beneficial partnership.

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Financing a lawsuit provides monetary help when a person seeks legal remedy in a court of law, and does not have the finances to bear the expenditure. The expenses covered by lawsuit financing companies include attorney fees, medical bills, health care, rent and mortgage, food etc. Cases funded by lawsuit firms include personal injury, workers compensation, motor vehicle accidental injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability, breach of contract, fraud and others.

However, this should not be mistaken for a loan, as it is non-recourse. That is, the client does not have to repay the amount if he or she loses the lawsuit. The risk is undertaken entirely by the companies. A loan, on the other hand, usually has a definite payback schedule within a fixed period. As there is no way of determining how long a case will run, there is no rigid schedule of repayment followed by lawsuit financing companies.

These companies usually lookout for cases that have a strong chance of winning, in order to reduce the risk of losing money. They have an in-house attorney who studies cases, and decides which of those are more likely to win. Subsequently, they fix the amount that is to be provided to the client, according to his or her needs.

There are basically three types of funding:

1. Pre-settlement funding:

Companies provide funds before the verdict is announced. These are generally provided when the client, due to some injury or some other reason, cannot work and earn money to pay the fees. If however, the verdict goes against the client, the company does not retrieve the money.

2. Post-settlement funding:

Firms give money only after the lawsuit is settled. In such cases, however, they do allow partial advances.

3. Attorney Loans:

The firms directly provide the attorney a long-term credit that will take care of all the expenses incurred.

However, before accepting help from such companies, it would be wise to consider the terms of repayment, and options available. The terms include the flat fee and the recurring fee. One should make an exploratory survey of different companies, and choose the one that is the most suitable. However, the chances of getting such funding would be negligible, if a case has a higher probability of losing, because lawsuit-financing firms scrutinize each case very carefully before providing help. Generally, this kind of service is provided to only those whose attorneys are ready to bear the huge expenses, which the client cannot provide.

Some clients are often compelled to obtain lawsuit financing at a high cost. For example, they may either need to pay their medical bills, pay the rent or mortgage, or avail of health care facilities. If there is no other source of income, lawsuit loans are often the best option. It is advisable to involve your attorney in processing a lawsuit loan, since he or she may be able to find you a funding company that offers the best terms. An attorney will also be able to help you review the contract before you sign up with the lawsuit funding company.

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