REPRESENTATION AGREEMENTS
Representation Agreements are what outlines the terms of hiring your attorney, and what is expected from you and your attorney. It should also give you information about attorney fees, payments, other fees and who is responsible for paying them, and contact information for your attorney and/or support staff.
If you do not have an agreement I would not recommend giving money or payment. A Representation Agreement should be presented to you and signed ideally before you send any money. Having a representation agreement helps make sure you fully understand what you are hiring the attorney for, the costs, and other important information.
If you are not sure of what your agreement states do not be afraid to ask the attorney what it means. I would also recommend if you are unsure you have another attorney review your representation agreement, especially in cases where this will be covering a lot of work and potentially huge sums of money. It is very important you fully understand what you are agreeing to.
Some Attorneys use heavy legally worded agreements, which can be rather confusing. Personally, I try to keep my agreements in simple English because I want my clients to all understand what they are signing. If you do not understand something, try to ask in writing and get a response in writing. At the end of the day what the agreement says will be considered and weighed heavily over what is said verbally.
Top Things to Consider When Entering a Representation Agreements:
- Confirm the information in the representation agreement matches who you are paying, and the individual you had the consultation with. (After verifying the attorney is currently licensed and in good standing.)
- Confirm the Agreement clearly represents the terms you agreed to, such as price, payment schedule, fees not covered by price indicated, and scope of work (what the attorney is doing for you).
- Check to see how you will resolve disputes, personally I prefer arbitration or mediation. Be sure you understand if you have an issue how you need to resolve it.
- Look to see if the agreement identifies different rates for different staff you contact, as in many case you will be billed different rates per hour depending on who you are engaging with.
- Check for all methods of communication and who you should communicate with regarding what specifically.
- If you have any questions, ask before signing, preferably in a written format so that you have the response in writing, so if there is an issue this may help you. Again the agreement will be weighed over anything outside the agreement, so if you still feel it does not represent what the attorney is saying it should, ask for it to be changed to language that does.
- Representation Agreements are legal agreements, do not sign them lightly!
