Following the theme of contract law and agreements for this issue of the Bar Bulletin, I decided to highlight titles in the library that discuss the attorney fee agreement.  As stated in the Foreword to Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour, “How fee-for-service is constructed and executed can either help or hinder the overall health and vitality of the lawyer-client bond”.  I’ve listed below books in the King County Law Library that discuss and provide examples of fee agreements that will help you develop a healthy and vital lawyer-client bond.  Please visit the Law Library and check them out.

Attorneys’ Fees, 3rd ed. By Robert L. Rossi, Thomson West.
Two volume discussion of attorneys’ fees with sample agreements in Appendix A.

Billing Innovations: New Win-Win Ways to End Hourly Billing, by Richard C. Reed.  American Bar Association, 1996.
Chapter 3 contains sample agreements.

Collecting Your Fee: Getting Paid from intake to Invoice, by Edward Poll.  American Bar Association, 2003.
CD-ROM accompanies text and contains forms found in the appendix.

The Essential Formbook: Comprehensive Management Tool for Lawyers, by Gary A. Munneke and Anthony E. Davis, American Bar Association.
Volume 1 includes client intake and fee agreements; volume 2 contains fees, billing, and collection.

Fee Agreement Forms Manual, Continuing Education of the Bar, California.
Though emphasis is for the California bar, sample provisions may provide guidance in creating an agreement appropriate for Washington state.  Contains sample provisions and commentary, sample agreements, and checklist of sample provisions.

Winning Alternatives to the Billable Hour: Strategies That Work, 2nd ed., American Bar Association, 2002.
New edition of text originally written by local attorney Richard C. Reed.  Appendix contains fee letter, agreements and other resources.

Gifts:  Nathaniel B. Green, Jr. and Stokes Lawrence, PS