One Lawyer’s Opinion
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Lawyer Fees
hen I first moved to Hohenwald and started practicing, one of my first visitors was Dennis Gowder. He was the soil conservation agent and president of the local Big Orange Club. He asked me for a $100 contribution toward establishing a school of veterinary medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I responded that I went to Sewanee and Va n d e r b i l t , both of which expected me to contribute By Landis to their alumTurner ni funds every year. I had no connection with UT and saw no reason to give money there because, they had the whole Tennessee legislature at their beckoning call all the time. Dennis said he agreed with all that, but I might want to consider how I would do if I had no Big Or-
ange clients. I asked him how to fill out the check. I learned quickly, that to be successful in Lewis County, a lawyer had to get along with two groups, Big Orange and the Church of Christ.
Q. What did you charge for legal service when you were practicing, and what do you say when people complain about the cost of your work? KFJ, Waynesboro. A. When working on a contingent fee, I charged one third of the recovery and nothing if no recovery was made. On eminent domain or condemnation cases, the fee was 40 percent of what was recovered on the amount over and above the amount offered for the property before I was retained. Or, if the client requested, I would charge a third of the full recovery. No one ever asked for the alternate. Institutional clients such as local governments, banks and other corporations were charged an hourly rate of $250 per hour. I represented the City of Hohenwald and Lewis County and sometimes Hickman, Wayne and Perry Counties. I charged them a annual retainer which covered ordinary business such as correspondence and brief office visits. For items like lawsuits which required more work, I charged extra. I discounted bills to local governments Hickman cOUnTY FaRm BUREaU because the fees were being Alan Potts • Agency Manager paid by the public. I also made no charge for church 825 Hwy 100 • Centerville, TN 37033 Phone: (931) 729-2292 deeds. Fax: (931) 729-9921 The mayors of Perry and Wayne County asked me LEWiS cOUnTY to be their county attorBud Malone • Agency MAnAger ney, but their county comBlake Warren, Agent missions met at the same 483 E. Main Street, Hohenwald, TN 38462 day and time as Lewis, so I Phone: (931) 796-5881 turned them down. Fax: (931) 796-1477 Confronted with a complaint about my fees, I said Claims: 1-800-836-6327 www.fbitn.com they were in line with what
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other lawyers in the area charged for the same or similar work. When a prospective client said another lawyer would charge less, I said one gets what he pays for and, “I try to be the best lawyer I can, not the cheapest.” I know such a response was nearly arrogant, but I said it because I had more business than I could handle. Within two weeks after I started, I got behind and never caught up. As I said, I tried to set my fees in line with what other experienced lawyers in the area would expect. As Abraham Lincoln said, “A lawyer’s stock in trade is his time and advice.” When I started my practice in Hohenwald, in this area the fee was usually set at $25 per hour. Lawyers around here were lucky, because we were charging the same amount as what was charged in big cities while our overhead was much lower. My favorite story about fees was when I sent a bill to a client for a case I was handling for him on an hourly basis. My charge was $3,000. A couple of days after my secretary mailed the bill, the client came in saying, “What are you doing, trying to screw me?” I responded that the case had taken a lot of time and work, and my charge was reasonable. Any other lawyer in the area would say the same. He said, “Well, you lawyers always stick together no matter what. It’s just a conspiracy to mess with the people.” He asked if I had his file handy. I did, so at his request we went through the file, which was quite thick. As I called his attention to each item of work, he said I should put down a charge for each item. For instance, $500 for each deposition and $25 for each letter. When we finished we had a total of $2,850. He said he would pay that and he did and went away happy feeling like he had won an important concession. I was happy, be-
cause the charge was fair as was my original bill of $3,000. If I had been arrogant and insisted he pay the $3,000, he would never have retained me again. As it was, I had a good client who always had a case going on for the rest of his life. By the way, this client knew he was a terrible witness and avoided going to court whenever he could. Even when he was telling God’s truth, he sounded to a judge or jury like he was lying. I finally told him that it was hard to win a case when one is representing The Invisible Man. So he started sending his daughter to court for him. Her name was Patsy. She worked for him and knew everything about his business. He owned and ran a cattle auction barn. The daughter was the best witness I ever saw on the stand. She was a lawyer’s dream and did what we told her every time. She listened carefully to the other lawyer’s questions, took her time and then answered truthfully but as briefly as she could. Then she would sit there quietly and wait for the next question. One never gets into trouble by saying too little. She never argued with an attorney, because he was in court every day and she wasn’t. On one occasion, I was trying a case for them in Nashville. The judge was the Honorable Joe Loser, who became dean of the Nashville School of Law after he retired from the bench. Patsy was my only witness and she was supurb. The judge listened to our closing arguments and then said, “I agree with Mr. Turner.” Then he got up, walked out and returned to his chambers. The judge was also a man of few words. This column discusses legal issues of general interest and does not give legal advice on any reader’s personal situation. The law is not a one-size-fits-all hat. Consult a lawyer of your choice. Landis Turner is a graduate of the University of the SouthSewanee and Vanderbilt University School of Law. He is a former president of the Tennessee Bar Association.