Honest pricing is part of how the firm sells.

How we price isn't proprietary. The firms that frustrate clients tend to be opaque about it; we're not, because honest pricing is part of how the firm sells.

This page covers the engagement model — how scope works, when retainers apply, how pass-through costs are billed, and the Cal RPC rules behind the structure. Specific package pricing lives on the pricing page.

The engagement letter is the source of truth

Nothing starts before there's a written engagement letter. The letter sets out:

• Scope. What's included and what's not. The 'not' part is just as important as the included part.
• Fee structure. Flat-fee + costs for transactional. Phase-priced flat fees for litigation. Monthly retainer for Outside General Counsel.
• Pass-through costs. Filing fees, process server, depositions, mediator fees — itemized so you see what's actually paid out vs. what's our work.
• Scope-change protocol. Real changes get a written amendment with a new fee. We don't renegotiate by surprise invoice.

Flat-fee + costs (transactional)

For formation, contracts, employment counseling, and similar matters where the work is knowable up front, we quote a flat attorney fee plus pass-through costs.

Pass-through costs (state filing fees, process server fees) are quoted separately and billed at cost — never marked up. We display them on the engagement letter and the invoice with receipts.

Cal RPC 1.15(b) governs how flat fees are held. Fees over $1,000 require a signed written disclosure; we include that language in every engagement letter for matters over the threshold and place advance fees in our trust account, transferring them to the operating account as work is completed.

Phase-priced litigation

Litigation is the practice area where 'open-ended hourly billing' is the industry default. We don't run that way. Instead, each phase of a litigation matter is scoped and priced separately:

• Pre-filing assessment — a memo and strategy recommendation before anything is filed.
• Pleadings — the complaint or answer plus the first round of discovery.
• Motion to dismiss / summary judgment — when applicable, each scoped per motion.
• Trial preparation — pretrial motions, witness prep, exhibit lists.
• Trial — attorney time across the trial calendar.
• Post-trial / enforcement — judgment enforcement, post-trial motions, or appeal preparation.

You see the fee for the next phase before it starts. If you decide to settle at any point, the matter ends there with no surprise wrap-up bill.

Outside General Counsel retainers

OGC engagements run on a monthly retainer with a defined hours-per-month cap. Three tiers — Foundation, Partner, and Embedded — sized to the company's actual legal-load.

Hours roll over within a 90-day window. If you blow through your monthly cap on a one-time matter, that overage gets quoted as a separate scope rather than billed at hourly rates against the retainer.

Trust accounts and IOLTA

Advance fees over $1,000 go into our IOLTA (Interest on Lawyer Trust Account) per Cal RPC 1.15. We transfer funds to the operating account as work is completed, and the engagement letter spells out the milestones that trigger transfers. If a matter ends before the full fee is earned, the unearned balance is refunded.

Termination and refunds

You can terminate the engagement at any time. We'll close out work in progress, transfer earned fees, and refund any unearned advance balance from the trust account.

We can also terminate, but only for the reasons California Rule 1.16 permits — non-payment, breakdown of the relationship, or matters that become impossible or unethical to pursue. We don't fire clients lightly, and if we do, we do it in writing with enough notice for you to find new counsel without prejudice to your matter.

Conflicts and the matters we decline

Every engagement starts with a Cal RPC 1.7 conflicts check before privileged information is shared. If we have a conflict, we'll tell you and decline. If we have no conflict but the matter isn't a fit (out of jurisdiction, outside the practice areas, or a problem on either side), we'll tell you that on the call rather than after a retainer.

What we don't do (billing-wise)

• Hourly billing for transactional or OGC work. We don't do it because we don't believe the model serves clients well.
• Rounded-up sixths-of-an-hour. The number on the engagement letter is the number you pay.
• Surprise wrap-up invoices. If a matter is closing out and there's billing to do, you'll see a written notice before the invoice.
• Markup on pass-through costs. Filing fees, process server fees, court reporter fees — we charge what we paid.
• Contingency fees. Not part of our practice.