Ethics-Governance: Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/2000/jul-00-ethics.htm

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http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/2000/jul-00-ethics.htm Ethics and the Law. Changing Fee Agreements by Barrie Althoff, WSBA Chief Disciplinary Counsel. Opinions expressed herein are the author's and are not official or unofficial WSBA positions. This article looks at some ethical issues arising when, after entering into an initial fee agreement with a client, the lawyer seeks to change that agreement. It first identifies the applicable ethical principles, and then briefly looks at the contractual remedy of accord and satisfaction. It then applies these, raising more questions than it answers, to the thorny situation of attorney fees being recovered from a personal injury protection insurer long after complete resolution with the tortfeasor of the underlying litigation and distribution of all recovered funds. The primary ethical obligations of the lawyer under the Rules of Professional Conduct addressed here are the lawyer's duty as a fiduciary to assure that the lawyer's fee is reasonable and to avoid conflicts of interest. Setting the Fee Although a lawyer must deal honestly and fairly with a prospective client, the lawyer does not have a fiduciary relationship until the lawyer-client relationship is established. Until then, a lawyer has the opportunity to look out for and protect his or her own interests without regard to whether it is in the interests of the prospective client, and to bargain at arm's length about the terms and conditions of the lawyer rendering legal services, provided only that the resultant fee is not unreasonable under the RPCs. Once the lawyer-client relationship is established, however, the lawyer becomes a fiduciary and loses that bargaining position. Full Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/2000/jul-00-ethics.htm


2006 Ethics-Governance.com