Legal Fees
Like most law firms and attorneys, the Firm charges for its services on an hourly rate basis. The hourly rate reflects a variety of factors, including but not limited to the expertise and experience of the attorney or paralegal, costs of operation, and competitive market forces. Generally, the time spent on a matter is multiplied by the attorney or paralegal’s hourly rate to arrive at the fee for that task. The basic time segment for billing is one-tenth of an hour (.10) which equals 6 minutes (thus, .20 hr equals 12 minutes). However, we often do not charge for certain activities (such as a telephone conference for a quick status of a pending matter or for travel time to meet with a client), and we always evaluate the overall appropriateness of the amount of the fee being charged.
In some instances, we have instituted flat charges based on a task, not the time spent. For example, a notice letter to begin a forcible entry and detainer (eviction) action is currently charged at $195.00, plus any tract book search charge but with no additional charge for postage or related phone calls or negotiations with the unit owner. Similarly, preparation of a lien is currently charged at $225 plus tract search and filing fees.
Also, we may offer a flat fee to do a particular project if requested by a client (for example, updating condominium declaration and bylaws to comply with current requirements of the Illinois Condominium Property Act; of course, typically, the older documents require more updating and thus will have a higher flat charge).
For litigation matters, we strongly encourage the use of budgets as a planning tool.
In most matters, we can provide a general estimate of fees.
Our current standard hourly rates for attorneys are $350 for Michael C. Kim, $285 for Eliot G. Schencker and $250 for Kristofer D. Kasten. Paralegal hourly rate is $150. Note that this Firm will use different rates in certain situations (which depends on the type of client or the project/task involved; thus, for example, the attorney rate to issue a second opinion would generally be higher than the standard hourly rate). We have special rates for handling forcible entry and detainer (eviction) cases; presently set at $200/hour for attorney time.
From time to time our rates may change and we will endeavor to notify our clients by mailings and announcements (such as on this Website). Continued use of our services after announced rate changes will constitute the client’s agreement to the rate change.
Generally, we do not accept work on a contingent fee basis.
In certain situations, we may ask a client for a security retainer, which would be deposited with the Firm at the time of engagement and against which fees would be charged.
As for monthly retainers to cover certain types of services, while we will submit a proposal if requested by a client, we generally view the indiscriminate use of such retainers in the condominium and homeowner association setting as typically disadvantageous to the client.
Ultimately, a client should be comfortable that the legal fee charged is commensurate with the quality of service, the work entailed and the effort invested by the attorney.
For more information, please view our General Terms document.