Medical attorney's fees

During the early stages of your meeting with your medical attorneys you should discuss attorney's fees and fee arrangement. Your medical attorney's fee agreement should be clear about the following:

• services your medical lawyer will do for you;
• the type of fees; and
• the sum you will be expected to pay.

The medical lawyer's fee agreement should also be clear regarding other expenses, and how these costs will be handled. The medical attorney's fee agreement should also explain the medical lawyer's billing practices.

Topics you and your medical attorney might cover during your discussions about medical lawyer's fees and costs:

• Type of medical attorney's fee arrangement: How will your medical lawyer bill?
  
• Will your medical lawyer bill on an hourly basis?
• Will it be on a contingency fee arrangement?
  
• Will you pay your medical attorney a retainer fee?


• Type of permissible costs:
• Which costs are properly passed on to you?
• Will you have to pay for copying costs?
• How much per page?
• Will you be responsible for electronic research charges? (Make sure you and medical attorney agree which costs you will pay and at what rate you will pay them.)


• Estimated fees and costs:
• What will the case cost?
• Your medical lawyer may not be able to determine the exact amount of time and effort required to handle your case. However, your medical attorney should be in a position to give you an estimate of both fees and costs based upon past experience.


• Frequency and detail:
• You should find out how often your medical attorney will bill you and whether interest or other charges will be added to unpaid amounts.
• The medical lawyer's bills should include details of the services provided along with an itemization of costs.
• If your medical lawyer is working on a contingency arrangement, find out how often you will be billed for costs and when you will receive payment if the doctor malpractice case is resolved in your favor.


• Basic charges:
• If your medical attorney charges by the hour, you should find out the minimum billing segment. Is it one-quarter or one-tenth of an hour or some other figure? For example, a medical lawyer may bill you for a tenth of an hour (six minutes) for a simple three minute telephone call.
• You should also find out whether you will be billed for work by others -- associates, legal assistants, or paralegals.


• Control:
• How much control will you have over fees and expenses?
• Do you want to be notified after fees and expenses reach a certain amount?
• Do you want to be notified before the medical attorney incurs an expense more than a certain amount?

During your discussions with your medical lawyer, you might want to take notes so you can know what terms you and your medical attorney agreed upon. You should have the attorney's fee arrangement (based on your discussions) put in writing.

If your medical attorney asked you to sign a pre-printed medical lawyer's fee agreement, read it carefully and make sure it includes the terms you discussed with your medical attorney. Otherwise, you should ask your medical lawyer to change the language.

The agreement should state clearly what you and your medical attorney agreed to do.