Understanding a Contract to Engage Legal Services

In this day and age, the vast majority of lawyers are now using a written contract when they are retained by a client.  Long gone are the days during which a handshake was all it took to retain a lawyer. 

With this in mind, if you are in the process of retaining a lawyer, it is important that you do understand the types of contract that a lawyer typically will use to enter into a professional relationship with a client.

Know What Fees will be Required Before You Sign

The most basic and in many ways most important information that is contained in a contract for legal services is the fee that a lawyer will charge for his or her assistance.  Make certain that the contract spells out specifically what fee a lawyer will charge.

In addition to the fee, the typical lawyer also charges his clients for expenses.  Thus, you need to make absolutely certain that the lawyer you intend to engage sets out in his contract exactly what expenses you will be responsible for during the course of that lawyer’s representation.

Understand the Extent of Representation Set Forth in the Agreement

When you a hire a lawyer, you are hiring him or her for a particular and specific purpose.  In other words, if you are hiring a lawyer to assist you in a child support matter, that lawyer will not be representing you in regard to a DUI that you might be charged with during the time that the lawyer is aiding you in the child support matter.

You need to make certain that you understand the extent of representation that a particular lawyer will be providing to you.  If you have any questions about the services the lawyer intends to provide to you, make certain that you ask specific and direct questions before you sign the contract for services.  By asking questions up front, by obtaining clarifications, you will avoid problems down the road.

Read Everything Before You Sign

It is often said, but it remains true:  it is important for you to read every word of a contract before you sign your name to the document.  Once you sign a contract you are bound by the terms and conditions of that contract.

It is important for you to completely read a contract to make certain that the contract spells out specifically the agreement you have reached in regard to the lawyer in regard to the legal representation that you need at a given point in time.  You will want to make certain that charges, fees and expenses are clearly spelled out within the contract as well.  By reading the contract completely, you will know precisely what the terms of your relationship with a particular lawyer will be once the representation commences.