Devoting energy to payment collections is time well spent 
By:
Ed Poll
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, fee collection
For too many lawyers, the marketing and production sides outweigh collections. They equate financial success with work done, measured in billable hours. But a lawyer’s inventory is not billable hours – it is the amount of cash that is realized from the billable hours outstanding.
Taxpayer can’t treat attorney fees as alimony
Published: October 3, 2011
Tags: alimony, attorney fees, taxation
A taxpayer could not deduct as alimony amounts paid for his former spouse’s attorney fees, the U.S. Tax Court has ruled in affirming a $5,600 deficiency assessment.
Five tips for explaining rates and fees to new clients
Published: September 26, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, legal fees, small firm, solo practice
Explaining your fees to clients is a common challenge for new attorneys. For lawyers hanging out their own shingle, here is some advice about discussing rates and fees with new clients.
Lawyer can discharge securities violation in bankruptcy
Published: September 21, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, Securities and Exchange Commission
A lawyer could discharge in his bankruptcy case a $581,000 disgorgement order relating to federal securities violations, 9th Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.
Ethics opinion: Fee change must be ‘reasonable’
Published: September 19, 2011
Tags: ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, attorney fees, ethics
A lawyer must be prepared to show that modifications to the terms of an existing fee agreement were reasonable at the time changes were made, according to an American Bar Association ethics opinion.
Civil rights plaintiff can get fees for attorney-spouse
Published: August 24, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, civil rights, §1983, §1988
A plaintiff who prevailed in a federal civil rights case could recover fees for services performed by her attorney-spouse, the 9th Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.
Rule 68 offer doesn’t include attorney fees, costs
Published: July 21, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68, offer of judgment
An offer of judgment accepted by a civil rights plaintiff did not preclude a subsequent award of attorney fees and costs, the 3rd Circuit has ruled in reversing the denial of a fee application.
Attorney fees improperly slashed in Social Security case
Published: July 13, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, Equal Access to Justice Act, Social Security
An award of attorney fees to a successful Social Security claimant was improperly reduced by two-thirds based on perceived deficiencies in counsel’s performance, the 2nd Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.
Attorney fees improperly denied in Social Security cases
Published: July 8, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, Equal Access to Justice Act, Social Security
Social Security claimants could not be denied their attorney fees on the basis that brief-writing services were performed by out-of-state lawyers who were not licensed locally, the 4th Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.
Lawyer can’t recover fees from ERISA plan
Published: June 24, 2011
Tags: attorney fees, ERISA
A lawyer could not obtain a disbursement of funds from a client’s employee benefit plan for the purpose of satisfying a judgment for unpaid attorney fees, the 11th Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.
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