Factors That Typically Affect the Legal Fees Charged By Criminal Defense Lawyers
The legal fees that are charged by criminal defense lawyers are influenced by a number of factors. When lawyers are representing clients who are faced with criminal charges, the fees they will charge will be determined after some considerations have been factored in. Let us try to understand what these factors are. Let us also look into the important role they play in the determination of the legal fees that will have to be paid by the client.
It is worth mentioning, before going any further with this discussion, that fees for legal services are, in actual fact, not charged in a - totally arbitrary - manner (in most jurisdictions). It is different from your usual buyer-seller relationship, which is done on a basis where the seller charges any amount that he thinks the buyer is willing to pay. There are certain rules - the quanta of counsel remuneration - which governs the determination of the legal fees of lawyers. These rules have to be followed. The said rules tend to set minimums in terms of what lawyers can charge for their services.
The idea is to avoid a situation where some lawyers would end up undercutting their professional colleagues, making the profession lose its prestige (as lawyers start competing on 'price'). Although the minimum amount is set, there is no maximum amount that is specified. The lawyers can charge as high as they want. This has led to the known variations that we find in legal fees charged by different lawyers. In actual fact, the variations are brought about by the factors we are just about to look at.
In determining what to charge their clients, criminal defense lawyers typically look (first) at the types of cases the clients have. If you compare a murder case to a petty theft case, it is obvious that he would charge more for the murder case. Murder cases have the tendency to be more drawn out than, say, a case of robbery or theft. Furthermore, to prepare an adequate defense for such a case, the lawyer would have to undertake more research and generally do a lot of work to ensure that the client gets adequate representation. This is an obvious reason for the increase in the legal fees.
It is also important for the lawyer to note at which specific time or stage in the trial he was retained to represent his client and take over the mounting of the defense of his criminal case. It goes without saying that a lawyer who has been with the client since the beginning of the case will charge a higher fee than someone who came in a bit later.
It would also appear that, to some extent, the legal fees charged by criminal defense lawyers depend on the professional profiles of the respective lawyers. Compared to up-and-coming lawyers, high-profile lawyers are generally more highly-paid.
It is worth mentioning, before going any further with this discussion, that fees for legal services are, in actual fact, not charged in a - totally arbitrary - manner (in most jurisdictions). It is different from your usual buyer-seller relationship, which is done on a basis where the seller charges any amount that he thinks the buyer is willing to pay. There are certain rules - the quanta of counsel remuneration - which governs the determination of the legal fees of lawyers. These rules have to be followed. The said rules tend to set minimums in terms of what lawyers can charge for their services.
The idea is to avoid a situation where some lawyers would end up undercutting their professional colleagues, making the profession lose its prestige (as lawyers start competing on 'price'). Although the minimum amount is set, there is no maximum amount that is specified. The lawyers can charge as high as they want. This has led to the known variations that we find in legal fees charged by different lawyers. In actual fact, the variations are brought about by the factors we are just about to look at.
In determining what to charge their clients, criminal defense lawyers typically look (first) at the types of cases the clients have. If you compare a murder case to a petty theft case, it is obvious that he would charge more for the murder case. Murder cases have the tendency to be more drawn out than, say, a case of robbery or theft. Furthermore, to prepare an adequate defense for such a case, the lawyer would have to undertake more research and generally do a lot of work to ensure that the client gets adequate representation. This is an obvious reason for the increase in the legal fees.
It is also important for the lawyer to note at which specific time or stage in the trial he was retained to represent his client and take over the mounting of the defense of his criminal case. It goes without saying that a lawyer who has been with the client since the beginning of the case will charge a higher fee than someone who came in a bit later.
It would also appear that, to some extent, the legal fees charged by criminal defense lawyers depend on the professional profiles of the respective lawyers. Compared to up-and-coming lawyers, high-profile lawyers are generally more highly-paid.
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