Hello All:

I have just been approached by a new attorney starting a firm. He wants to hire me to prepare a few office procedures manuals and filing manuals. I'm not sure how to bring up the subject of charging him, since I have a good relationship with him and mainly because I'm not sure if to charge hourly or by the project, in this case by each binder I'll be putting together.

Any advice?

LegalGal,

It is up to you whether you want to charge by the project or by the hour.

Before you start any work, determine what you want to charge the attorney and then make sure your fee is agreeable with him. Then put it in writing in a signed contract so there are no questions later.

It is difficult to say whether this is considered a one-time project that you can complete in x amount of time for x amount of charge. Projects are typically one-time or they happen every few months...not something ongoing which is typically charged by the hour.

If you feel you will be compensated fairly with charging a per binder fee then you can write the contract up as such. If not, then hourly. Again, it is difficult to say without knowing what the work involves and what the client is asking to be completed.

My best guess is to say that the job should be hourly. You may find that putting the binders together is not cut and dry and requires some research on your part and extra time that might not have been accounted for if you did a per project arrangement.

Janine

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I would recommend working on an hourly basis until you get some experience behind you that will allow you to accurately and fairly bid out by the project. Unless this is something you're familiar with and can reasonably estimate in advance.

Congrats on the new client!

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I agree. I believe hourly is the best way to go. This way, there is no chance of under-charging for the work. I would figure out your hourly rate and go from there. You can always give him a "guesstimate" of how long you believe these will take you to do if he asks, but at least it's just an estimated time frame and something you will have room to move around with a bit, if needed.

Good luck!

Hourly certainly seems more practical in this case.

From a newbie - Everyone seems to agree that hourly is best. I still it confusing to know which way to go.

Is it that hourly is safer?

thanks,

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Penelope Myer
Penelope and Partners