Fee Agreements: Contingency Vs. Hourly

Fee Agreements: Contingency Vs. Hourly

At the Naumann Law Firm, we strive to deliver high-quality legal services to our clients. The cornerstone of our service is to maintain regular and ongoing communication with our clients.

When working with construction defect attorneys, there are a variety of ways to structure how you pay the attorney, known as the fee agreement. Today, we will highlight two of the most common fee agreements, hourly and contingency.

Paying for professional services based on time worked is also known as an hourly agreement. With this type of agreement, our firm tracks all hours worked on your case. Everything from a teleconference to responding to emails, site inspections, legal research, depositions, and meditations. At the end of each month, our firm will send you an invoice for payment. The costs for experts, vendors and mediators are billed directly to you, for immediate payment.
Hiring based on an hourly agreement can add up quickly. Hourly fees range from $200 – $500 per hour and many experts and mediators require a retainer upwards of $20,000. Keep in mind that construction defect cases take time, they can range anywhere from nine months to two years or more. Not many associations have the funds available for this and are able to maintain their own budget. A more common way to handle your cases is by contingency.

A contingency fee agreement is a pre-determined amount to be paid to our firm at the end of the case. In this situation, you do not pay ANY money out of pocket, at any time. Our firm advances ALL the case costs ourselves. Any cost you would pay for in an hourly agreement, we will pay for in a contingency agreement. We carry these costs through the case until a judgment or settlement is reached. At this time, the case costs are deducted from the global settlement amount. If for whatever reason your case is not won, you still do not pay any costs.

The Naumann Law Firm represents homeowner associations, high/mid-rise condominium and condominium conversion associations, single and multifamily residential homes, and commercial property owners in construction defect litigation. Please contact us to set up a consultation.

If you need more information on construction defects, visit our construction defect litigation page. To contact us, call 844-492-7474 or visit our San Diego construction defect contact page.

We also practice Los Angeles construction defect litigation, Orange County construction defect litigation, Riverside construction defect litigation, and San Bernardino construction defect litigation.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR FIRM DURING THE CURRENT COVID-19 PANDEMIC
We thank you for your patience in this challenging business environment. For over 35 years, The Naumann Law Firm has provided legal excellence for our clients. During these difficult times, and when we ultimately recover from them, our resources continue to be available to you. Please contact us with any questions, comments, or concerns.