Fees & Costs

"A penny saved is a penny earned."
--Benjamin Franklin

Hiring an attorney is expensive. Litigation is expensive. TLF understands and recognizes this fact and does everything it can to minimize fees and costs and maximize returns. More than half of TLF's clients have used TLF previously. Service and value is the way TLF gets it clients to return to them over and over again since 1993.

Nick Tepper charges $325 per hour, which is far less than many other attorneys with his record and his decades of experience. TLF's associates charge out at $225 per hour. Our paralegals (everyone working at TLF holds at least a paralegal certificate) charge out at $55 per hour.

The one question perspective clients ask is: "How much is this going to cost me?"

If the question about cost involves something non-adversarial, such a drafting a will, a trust, a lease, setting up an LLC, getting a name changed, preparing a contract for sale, as examples, then usually TLF either gives you a flat fee/all included price or can at least give you a good, close estimate about all fees and costs. Much of TLF's workload is done on a flat fee basis.

If your case involves going to court, though, it is impossible to predict the fees and costs. Going to court is usually not a flat fee situation. It normally involves a party on the other side who is also paying an attorney and also wants to hold down their costs. That other party also wants you to get nothing and often are asking you to pay them. They may file motions, take depositions and propound discovery and of course there is trial. All of these can be costly and that cost depends on the subject, time and volume of each.

No two lawsuits are the same and no two play out exactly the same way. It all depends on the facts, the parties, witnesses, documents, the judge and the attorneys, to name just a few factors. There are just too many variables to be able to predict how much a case is going to cost. Of course there are fixed costs for a lawsuit. (hyperlink to Fee Schedule on Lawsuit Library page), but those usually represent a very small portion of total costs for any lawsuit.

Recognizing this unpredictability of costs of suit, TLF always pursues a very aggressive strategy to both prepare for trial should that become necessary and, simultaneously optimize settlement for every every case.

Potential clients also often ask about fees being paid on a contingency basis. A contingency fee is when the attorney is paid from the proceeds of the recovery. TLF does take some cases on a contingency basis, although much more often than not lawsuits are paid on an hourly basis.

TLF has built a reputation for results and value. We do everything we can to hold down costs and get the best possible results. We want you back an will do everything to earn your return business.