The amount charged by an attorney in California who handles civil cases depends in part on the method the attorney uses to charge their client. Civil attorneys handle a wide variety of legal matters and are likely to charge their clients using one of several possible approaches. This is part of why it is challenging to say how much a lawyer will cost.
Any legal matter that involves state and federal civil laws, as opposed to state or federal criminal laws, is considered a civil law matter. So, for example, a civil attorney might create an estate plan for a client. A civil attorney might represent their client in a lawsuit against a doctor for medical malpractice. A civil attorney might evict a commercial tenant from a commercial property owned by their client.
In each of these cases, how the attorney will charge the client is going to be different, and the total final bill could vary greatly in these cases. If an individual wants information about their issue or problem, a legal consultation in California with a California lawyer should give them an opportunity to discuss attorney’s fees. An individual should never be reluctant to openly discuss the fee that an attorney charges for their services.
A civil attorney who prosecutes professional malpractice is likely to charge a contingency fee. A contingency fee is a percentage of the money damages award that an attorney wins for their client. If the malpractice case is lost, then the attorney is not paid any fee for their representation.
The attorney who defends a professional, e.g., a doctor or lawyer, who is sued for professional malpractice is likely to be hired and paid by the professional’s malpractice insurance company. Malpractice insurance generally provides the insured professional with the legal defense they need if they are sued for malpractice.
The insurance company is likely to pay the attorney an hourly fee. The attorney will be one with experience with the defenses to civil liability that may be used in such cases.
So the 2 lawyers on the opposite sides of the same professional malpractice lawsuit may well be paid in different ways, and their representation of their clients would cost differing amounts.
Of course, per the history of civil law in the U.S., there can be cross-over between civil and criminal laws. For example, a person who is found guilty of a crime can also be liable in civil law to answer to their victim for the physical or financial harm they have inflicted on them.
It is rare for the victim of a crime to sue the convicted criminal who harmed them in civil court, because the criminal usually does not have the funds to pay damages to their victim. But it could happen in some cases.
In addition to the kind of case an attorney handles, the cost of an attorney in any given case is going to vary according to other factors. For example, attorneys in big cities usually charge more than attorneys in rural places. Some attorneys have exceptional professional reputations and can charge clients more than other attorneys, maybe younger ones who are not as well established in a certain market. These are yet other factors that affect the cost of an attorney.
What Does a Civil Lawyer Do, and Why Might You Need One?
Very diverse kinds of cases fall within the domain of civil law. As noted above, a civil attorney might handle professional malpractice cases, landlord-tenant matters, or bankruptcies. They might apply for patents for their clients or file lawsuits for copyright infringement. A person could need a civil lawyer for a wide range of different issues.
In some situations, an attorney provides a product, e.g., a will or a pre-nuptial agreement. In other situations, a civil attorney represents a person in a lawsuit. The nature of the services they provide are very different in these two situations.
What Factors Are Used in Calculating Civil Lawsuit Fees in California?
Generally, lawyers in civil cases charge their clients in one of three ways as follows:
- Contingency Fee: Plaintiff’s personal injury lawsuits are lawsuits that people who have been injured or financially harmed by the wrongs of others pursue. Attorneys who represent plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits generally charge a contingency fee. This means that the attorney is paid a percentage of any award of money damages that they recover for their client. They are not paid at all for their services if they do not recover a monetary award for their client.
- Hourly Fee: Possibly the most common fee arrangement for civil lawyers is the hourly fee. In an hourly fee arrangement, a lawyer is simply paid a fixed amount for each hour they spend working on a client’s case. In many lawsuits, the attorney who represents one side or the other charges an hourly fee. An attorney who is hired to provide a product, e.g., a contract, often charges an hourly fee.
- Flat Fee: In cases in which an attorney can reasonably predict how much time they would spend on providing a client with a standard legal service, they may charge a flat fee, or a fixed total amount. This is advantageous for a client as they know at the beginning of the attorney’s representation what the total cost will be.
Variations on these fee arrangements are also possible. When a person is looking for a lawyer to represent them or handle an issue, e.g., preparing a will, they want to be sure to ask the lawyer how they will charge them.
In fact, California law requires that an attorney-client representation agreement in any matter in which the fee is expected to be more than $1,000 must be in writing. So, if a person has an initial legal consultation with a lawyer and decides to hire them, they should be fully informed in writing about how their lawyer will charge for their services. They should also ask and be told what the consultation fee is for the initial meeting.
California law further requires that when the attorney and client enter into a contract, the attorney must give the client a copy of it. The copy must show that both the attorney and the client have signed the agreement.
In addition, the written contract must state the following:
- How the attorney’s compensation is to be determined, e.g., as an hourly rate, a flat fee, or a contingency fee.
- Other charges that are applicable to the case. Often, lawsuits involve costs in addition to the attorney’s fee. What those costs are and how they are to be paid must be specified in the representation agreement.
- The type of legal services that the attorney is to provide to the client.
- Any responsibilities that the client must perform as their part in the agreement.
In addition to the representation contract, the bills that an attorney presents to their client must clearly state how it was computed. The amount of the attorney’s fee, the rate, i.e., hourly, flat, or contingency percentage, and the basis for the calculation must be stated in the bill.
A bill that includes charges for costs and expenses has to identify those costs and expenses in an understandable way and, of course, the amount that is charged.
So any individual who hires a California civil attorney should expect to sign a contract that conforms to the rules above and to receive bills that comply with California law.
What Other Costs Are Associated With Civil Cases?
It is mostly lawsuits that can involve significant costs other than an attorney’s fee. Possible costs involve the following:
- The fee charged by courts for filing a lawsuit
- The cost of collecting the evidence needed to prove one’s case, such as the fees for having the deposition of a witness or for copying large quantities of documents
- The cost of hiring an expert witness.
Success in many cases may involve having a subject expert analyse key facts in a case and provide a professional opinion about some key issue in the case. For example, in a medical malpractice case, the plaintiff needs to have a medical expert who can provide their opinion that the defendant doctor’s care of the plaintiff fell below professional standards and caused the plaintiff’s injury.
The expert witness has to be paid for the time they spend analyzing the facts of the case and then giving testimony about their opinion.
How these costs are to be paid should be explained to a client by an attorney at the beginning of a case and included in the required written representation agreement discussed above.
What Services Do California Civil Attorneys Provide?
Generally speaking, as noted, the types of services offered are going to depend on the nature of the legal issue a person has, but they might be summarized as follows:
- Legal Advice: Often, a client simply needs legal advice from an attorney. Even if they are involved in a dispute, a lawyer may well contact the other party to the dispute and negotiate a resolution without the need for a lawsuit. Undoubtedly, many conflicts are resolved in this manner, and expensive lawsuits are avoided.
- Representation in a Lawsuit for the Plaintiff: The individual or other entity that begins a lawsuit by filing a complaint in a court of law is the “plaintiff.” Civil attorneys often represent plaintiffs in civil lawsuits.
- Representation in a Lawsuit for the Defendant: The individual or other entity that is sued in a civil lawsuit is the “defendant.” The vast majority of defendants would be well advised to have an attorney represent them if they are named as a defendant in a lawsuit.
- Provision of a Specific Service: As noted above, many attorneys are engaged in providing a specific legal product or service for their clients. Some examples would be creating an estate plan, filing a patent application, drafting a contract for a business transaction, or creating a partnership agreement for a group of professionals who want to start a partnership.
Most services provided by an attorney fall within one of these categories.
What Are the Advantages of Hiring a Civil Lawyer in California?
Attorneys are educated and experienced professionals. If an individual has a need for a legal product, e.g., again an estate plan or a contract for a significant business deal, they want to hire a professional whom they can trust to provide the best possible product or service.
If a person has suffered significant injury in a car accident or other incident, they may experience large economic losses for such things as medical treatment or lost salary if they cannot work. This is a serious matter, and they need the best possible personal injury lawyer to work to win them the award of compensatory damages they need to cover their losses.
Having the expertise of a qualified attorney to help a person get it right when it is most important is the main advantage of hiring a civil attorney in California.
How Does Out-Of-State Paternity Affect Child Support Payments in California?
The fact that a father’s paternity has been established in a state other than California should not affect child support payments in California. Assuming the child lives with their mother in California, the mother should be able to collect child support payments from the biological father whose paternity has been established through legally accepted means in any state.
A mother should register an order of paternity from another state with a court in California. That should enable her to seek an order regarding the payment of child support from a California court. She may then seek to enforce that order through a court or state agency in the state where the father lives.
Do I Need To Hire a California Civil Lawyer?
If you need a legal service or product that involves civil law, are involved in a legal conflict or have been sued, you need to talk to a California civil lawyer. Your lawyer can explain how they can serve you and provide the product or service that can solve your problem or address your issue.
Your lawyer can discuss how they will bill you and the possible total cost so that you are fully informed. You can start by having an initial consultation at a low cost to find out how a lawyer can help you and for how much.
