Get your fee agreement in writing

I was cogitating about a matrimonial lawyer whose client executed a retainer agreement pursuant to R. 5:3-5. The dispute arose when the attorney claimed that he entered into a subsequent oral agreement with his client modifying the original retainer agreement;  allowing him a fee for coaching her in a domestic violence case.  His client denied the existence of an oral agreement.

The trial judge disallowed a significant portion of the attorney fee, and he appealed. The Appellate Division affirmed, saying:

“The failure to prevail on a fee claim such as this informs both the bench and bar of the danger of supplementary oral agreements and the benefits of written retainer agreements, especially in the family practice,” wrote Judges Philip Carchman and Rudy Colement per curiam in Romanowski v. Mace, A-4135-07,

“Where oral agreements subsume the written agreement, fee disputes are inevitable, and on one’s interest is properly served.”

In an unrelated matter, a prominent matrimonial lawyer was disciplined by the Disciplinary Review Board for use of nonrefundable retainer agreements in violation of court rule and ethics rule requiring return of unearned legal fees.

These two cases are reminders of best practices in our law practices. Whether your are a matrimonial attorney executing a retainer agreement pursuant to R. 5:3-5; or a personal injury attorney working with a contingent fee agreement, don’t be lazy. Get your fee agreement in writing!