rates & billing
Our rates vary depending upon the experience of the attorney working on your case. We use the "team approach" in handling our cases. Generally, one attorney will be assigned to oversee your case. During negotiations or various stages of the litigation, other attorneys with different areas of experience and expertise may work on your case. For example, Edward Lau is the most experienced litigator in the office and therefore has the highest hourly rates. For simple matters such as writing letters and coordinating discovery, it makes no sense to have the most expensive attorney conduct such simple tasks. But when it comes time to call an opposing attorney to negotiate a settlement, mediate your case before a mediator, or try your case before a jury, then we use the most experienced attorney to handle these critical tasks.
Some people have a misconception about charges for the first office visit with an attorney. Generally, only personal injury cases (car accidents, medical malpractice, slip and fall, etc.) have free initial visits. The reason is because these cases are taken on a contingency fee basis where the attorney is not paid by the client on an hourly basis during the course of the case, but rather gets a percentage of your recovery at the end the case. In such cases, if we cannot recover anything for you, then we get no legal fees. However, most cases are not taken on a contingency fee basis. Most cases are charged on an hourly fee basis. If you are not sure if your type of a case is a contingency case, feel free to ask us with our inquiry form.
For those cases charged on an hourly fee basis, the first or "initial" meeting with our office (the "Initial Office Consultation") is charged at a reduced rate. We do this to encourage potential clients to feel comfortable talking with us and not be concerned with our higher normal hourly rates. Currently, our Initial Office Consultation ("IOC") rates are as follows:
INITIAL OFFICE CONSULTATION HOURLY RATES (as of 1/1/06) |
|
| Edward C.Y. Lau, Esq. | $280 |
| Steven L. Lau, Esq. | $200 |
| Sherry Shuyuan Tang, Esq. | $165 |
After the initial discounted meeting, if you decide to retain our office, our current hourly rates are as follows:
NORMAL HOURLY RATES (as of 1/1/06) |
|
| Edward C.Y. Lau, Esq. | $350 - $450 |
| Steven L. Lau, Esq. | $250 - $350 |
| Sherry Shuyuan Tang , Esq. | $190 - $220 |
| Shirley C. Lau, Paralegal | $150 |
| Miranda Chan, Paralegal | $150 |
Our office sends out billing statements on a monthly basis around the second week of the month. Our billing statements are very detailed so that our clients will know exactly what we did on their cases each month. If there are any problems or questions about the bill or what we have done on your case during that month, you should contact us immediately to resolve the problem quickly before any further legal fees are accrued on your case.
