Toolkit provides commentary, resources, and best practices on fee arrangements and billing practices
The Canadian Bar Association has introduced a new comprehensive toolkit to assist law firms in communicating with prospective clients and dealing with the financial aspects of the lawyer-client relationship.
The “retainers and fees toolkit” provides lawyers with commentary, resources, and best practices on fee arrangements and billing practices and discusses some ethical considerations in retainer agreements. Initiated by the ethics and professional responsibility subcommittee, the toolkit highlights rules from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s Model Code of Professional Conduct.
“Some lawyers might be reluctant to discuss financial matters with prospective clients, based on a concern that prospective clients may not want to hire them if they appear to be overly concerned with the financial aspects of the relationship,” toolkit consultant Katrina Haymond said. “The toolkit is designed to give lawyers the tools they need to engage in effective communication with clients about the financial side of the relationship.”
In particular, the toolkit consists of the following sections:
“I want to praise the work done by the members of the subcommittee, the writers, and the reviewers,” ethics and professional responsibility subcommittee chair Jennifer Biernaskie. “This is a great tool for every lawyer in private practice and we hope this will empower them to have effective communications with their clients about retainers and fees, while highlighting some of the ethical obligations they should comply with.”
