WELCOME

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Caryl on Fees & Ethics, a regular newsletter addressing current issues of legal ethics as they involve the establishment of fee arrangements between lawyers and clients as well as disputes relating to legal billing practices. Unlike some legal ethics newsletters that speak only to lawyers, this newsletter will be of interest to non-lawyers as well.

GOALS

A great deal of exaggeration is made and false information perpetuated surrounding the billing practices by lawyers – overcharging clients is probably the most common and frequently made criticism. And this is a significant problem with some lawyers and firms. Lawyer-bashing continues to be widespread in our society and the media. Hopefully through this newsletter, we can shed some light on the subject, debunk some falsehoods and better inform both the lawyer and client reader. Our aim is to increase awareness of billing practices and pitfalls and present new developments in the law. This will include cases, court rules and ethics opinions on the general subject of attorney’s fees and related fee disputes.

This newsletter will provide an open forum to generate discussion. We urge you to provide feedback, (hopefully constructive) criticism, and your own comments and thought provoking insights for other readers to share and discuss.

THE DETAILS

Caryl on Fees & Ethics is a FREE newsletter which is available through this web site or direct email. Our newsletter will have a number of regular feature articles that will lead each issue. We will also present several short subject pieces that will include suggestions for further exploration. Each newsletter will offer a practical tip for either the lawyer or non-lawyer. Also in each issue, we will present an attorneys fees related key term, fully defined, which will be added to our expanding Glossary Plus (available through this web site).

If you enjoy the content of this newsletter, and are interested in receiving a regular issue via email, please either visit our web site at www.caryl.com and click “Subscribe” or send an email to info@caryl.com. We invite you to pass the newsletters on to friends and colleagues.

We welcome your comments, suggestions and article ideas. We are also interested in learning about new court decisions, opinions and court rules from other states dealing with attorney fee issues. Please send directly to info@caryl.com or post them on our web site.