GUNFIGHTER

I have been a criminal defense trial lawyer for decades.  Unlike the practice of civil law, criminal law clients are either incarcerated, have been incarcerated, or might be incarcerated again depending on the outcome of their cases.  Usually this means criminal cases are not conducive to billing by the hour except in situations of corporate criminality when hourly billing is more realistic and useable.  A flat fee is the norm in most criminal cases and is paid up front for services to be rendered.  It is a lot like buying a pig in a poke for some clients and guarantees are always asked for.  However, besides the pig in a poke situation, there are never any guarantees of outcome.  Many times the client was unable to come to my office to discuss a fee because he/she was in jail waiting for a bail bond hearing or being held without bond.  Sometimes a family member would meet with me to arrange payment of my fee.  Many times, the concept of a flat fee and not an hourly fee was foreign to both the neophyte crook and the most sophisticated repeat offender.  In an effort to help explain my billing procedure, I displayed this poster in my office lobby.  It never failed to work for me.