Opinion ID: 836247
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: fourth cause of complaint: charging and collecting a clearly excessive fee

Text: The Bar contends that the accused violated DR 2-106(A) by billing Yother senior for $1,925 and for collecting $750 when he had worked only two-and-one-half hours on the case at a rate of $150 per hour. DR 2-106(A) provides that [a] lawyer shall not enter into an agreement for, charge or collect an illegal or clearly excessive fee. The accused's response is twofold. First, he contends that the October 1, 1996, bill reflecting a remainder due of $1,175, clearly was an error that he would have corrected if it had been brought to his attention. Second, the accused contends that, notwithstanding that the bills indicated that he had worked only two-and-one-half hours on the case, he had spent an additional three to four hours doing research that was not reflected in the bills and for which he was entitled to payment at the rate of $150 per hour. Because he was paid only $750 and never sought to collect any more after October 1, 1996, the accused contends that he did not collect an excessive fee. As explained earlier, the accused did not enter into a written fee agreement with Yother senior or with the defendants. However, the accused told Cooper, in his letter of October 2, 1996, and the LPRC investigator that he was providing his services on an hourly basis. The accused also told the LPRC investigator that his secretary had made a mistake in billing Yother senior for his time rather than charging his time against the $1,500 retainer fee. Finally, the accused's secretary testified that the accused charged by the hour for criminal cases. The only evidence in the record that contradicts the conclusion that the accused charged an hourly fee in this case is the accused's testimony that he had charged Yother senior a nonrefundable retainer fee of $1,500 for his services. However, in his briefing to this court, the accused does not dispute that he charged an hourly fee; he argues only about how many hours he worked on the defendants' case. We conclude that the accused agreed to work for an hourly fee, and we turn to whether he was entitled to charge or to collect more than $425 for his services. The accused told the LPRC investigator that the total amount of time that he had spent on the case was two-and-one-half hours, the same amount of time that was reflected in the three bills he sent to Yother senior. At the hearing, the accused testified that he spent three or four hours doing research on the case, but he produced no records at any time during these proceedings to document that fact. Indeed, the accused claims to have destroyed the Yother file in May 1998, even though the original complaint in this matter had been filed a month earlier. Based on the record before us, we conclude that the accused worked two-and-one-half hours on the case. At his hourly fee of $150, plus $50 for a missed appointment, the accused was entitled to collect a fee of $425. Even viewed in the light most favorable to the accused, he charged a fee of $1,850, and he collected a fee of $750. The accused violated DR 2-106(A) by charging and collecting an excessive fee.