Agreement For Legal Services Template

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NAME OF ATTORNEY OR FIRM
ADDRESS
PHONE & EMAIL ADDRESS
AGREEMENT FOR LEGAL SERVICES
1
Thank you for asking our firm to assist you with your legal matter.
This agreement between ________________, Attorney, and ___________________,
2
Client, describes the fees and costs and efforts for the agreed scope of representation
under this agreement concerning ______________________________________________.
1. Scope
of
Representation
--Case
Assessment,
Development
and
3
Administration;
Pre-Trial
Pleadings
and
Motions;
Discovery,
_________________________________
The tone and use of vocabulary should be friendly and not intimidating. The title is optional. Other
1
titles may be “Representation Agreement” or “Legal Representation Agreement” or “Agreement for
Legal Counsel” or similar terms. Using the term “Fee Agreement” is not recommended because the
Agreement is more than a description of the fee arrangements. Consider that this document is
usually the first writing that a client sees from your office. It begins to establish the bond between
client and lawyer. Use the agreement to “inform, educate, and require.” Inform the client of your
obligations, the fees and costs, and perhaps your policies (i.e., email and telephone messages).
Educate the client about what to expect as the matter proceeds, such as timeline, events, and likely
parties. Require the client to adhere to a standard of conduct regarding communications, timely
appearance at meetings, returning your telephone calls, and provision of documents and evidence.
Use the term “Retainer Agreement” only if it is actually a retainer agreement. A retainer is an
amount paid for access to the lawyer for a specified period of time or for a particular matter. See
RPC 1.5(f)(1). There may or may not be a defined scope of work. An “Engagement Letter” uses a
letter format and is a narrative that includes all of the framework elements of an agreement. It is
usually used with corporate and business clients, though not exclusively, and may be a suitable
format for your individual clients, particularly repeat clients.
Fee agreements are governed by RPC 1.5. That Rule contains helpful language that describes
aspects of a reasonable fee. You may choose to use portions of this language in your agreement.
Note that an attorney-client relationship can arise without a written agreement or exchange of
monies. See Bohn v. Cody , 119 Wn 2
357. Any legal fee is liable to partial or full refund if the fee
nd
is determined to be unreasonable. See In re Disciplinary Proceeding of DeRuiz , 152 Wn.2d 558
_______________________________
2
The Parties--Be sure that you know who the client is when two or more people are meeting with you and asking
you to take the matter. In corporate representation it is especially important to know who the client is: officer,
employee, board, or entity.
3
The Scope of Representation—For many matters it may be easy to determine what you are
agreeing to do. Certain other matters may have circumstances that cause uncertainty about what
outcome may be possible. In these situations, be careful about being too broad. Consider excluding
trial preparation and trial to allow a chance to evaluate whether you wish to continue the
representation. A lawyer may limit the scope of the representation if the limitation is reasonable
Page 1

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