Costs Policy
The total price paid by a client for legal services includes both CLP’s fees and other costs incurred in providing these services. The following FAQs describe how CLP handles costs.
Q: Are clients charged for CLP's overhead expenses?
Q: What are the costs charged by CLP?
Q: How do I know the amount of the costs?
Q: Why aren't costs included in CLP's flat fee?
Q: Will I be billed separately for outside lawyers?
Q: Do you pass cost savings on to your clients?
Q: Is local counsel included in CLP's fee?
Q: Are clients charged for CLP's overhead expenses?
A: No. CLP knows the difference between our overhead - the regular expenses incurred by CLP in doing business as a modern law firm - and billable costs. CLP does NOT charge for:
Online legal research
Secretarial overtime
Word processing
Internal copying
Local transportation
After-hour meals
Faxing
Local or long distance telephone
Law firms do not apportion their rent, payroll, insurance, taxes, coffee or legal pads to their clients and likewise have no business asking their clients to pay their “fair share” of any of the above items.
CLP rolls its overhead expenses into an “all in” fee structure. This creates a dynamic that is a win for the client. In order to improve its profit margins, CLP must continually find and use the lowest cost providers and also achieve other operating efficiencies. CLP’s lower cost of production allows it to reduce the fees charged to the client while still making a fair profit. back to top
Q: What are the costs charged by CLP?
A: The costs typically charged by CLP are for the services provided by the following outside vendors:
Court fees
Personal delivery fees
Discovery vendors
Local counsel
Experts
Deposition fees
Demonstrative exhibits or models prepared by graphic artist
Photocopying by an outside reproduction firm
Express mail fees
Out of town travel
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Q: How do I know the amount of the costs?
A: CLP will provide an upfront estimate of the costs and when they will be incurred. back to top
Q: Why aren’t costs included in CLP’s flat fee?
A: Costs typically are incurred for the services of third party vendors who are outside CLP’s employment or lawyer network, and who therefore are not obliged to provide services under CLP’s flat fee agreement. Furthermore, the services provided by these persons are primarily non-legal and quite narrow in scope, e.g., the court reporter who prepares a transcript of witness testimony or the vendor who collects electronically stored information, and therefore these services are much more difficult to manage effectively if rolled into the same flat fee paid for legal services. back to top
Q: Will I be billed separately for outside lawyers?
A: Instead of employing a large and expensive group of lawyers on a permanent basis, CLP scales as the need arises with its network partners and other outside lawyers, thereby lowering the cost of producing legal services while providing legal expertise specifically tailored to your case needs. In nearly all cases, the fees for the trial team, whether CLP or non-CLP lawyers, will be included in CLP’s flat fee and are not separately billed as costs. The likely exceptions are fees for outside lawyers serving as local counsel or document review specialists, who usually are unwilling to commit to a flat fee.
In every case where CLP uses the services of outside lawyers, whether included in CLP’s fee or billed separately, they are pre-approved by the client and work under CLP’s direct supervision. back to top
Q: Do you pass cost saving on to your clients?
A: Yes. CLP’s vendors and contractors are highly skilled and cost-effective and the resulting cost savings are passed directly through to the clients with no CLP profit added. back to top
Q: Is local counsel included in CLP’s fee?
A: As discussed above, local counsel typically will not commit to a flat fee arrangement and therefore the client is charged separately for their services. Of course, CLP will include local counsel services in its flat fee where this is acceptable to local counsel, but this rarely occurs. back to top