Understanding Lawyers' Fees

Lawyers stock-in-trade is our time - we only have so many hours in a day to spend on our clients’ cases.  That means our legal fees always take into account how much time we will expect to spend on your case.  When a lawyer quotes a flat fee, they are estimating the number of hours it will take to resolve your case.

How many hours do you think a lawyer who is being paid $500 for a criminal charge can afford to devote to your case? To keep the doors open, that lawyer is going to need a lot of cases, and that means less time spent on yours!

At Aaron Delgado & Associates, we know what it takes to bring you through your case; we have helped thousands of people in situations like yours. But while we have handled many cases like yours, there has never been and never will be a case exactly like yours. Every case has unique facts and must be treated that way. That’s why there is no one size fits all situation, and why we urge all of our potential clients to come in and meet with us face to face. See our facilities, meet our staff, and take a measure of the team who will be championing your cause. At Aaron Delgado & Associates, we believe in aggressive and bleeding edge legal services tailored to fit our clients. This custom approach includes our payment arrangements.

Personal Injury & Civil Litigation Cases

Our personal injury cases are always contingency-based, meaning you pay no fees or costs unless we recover for you. We use the standard contingency fee agreements approved by the Florida Supreme Court wherever applicable. We do not usually keep a detailed by-the-minute accounting of our time, but we do keep all of our out-of-pocket expenses and costs.

Many cases we litigate involve prevailing party fees.  What that means is that if our clients prevail in a civil case, fees may be payable over and above the amount awarded to our clients to be paid by the adverse party.  Some examples include:

• Denied Workers’ Compensation Benefits Secured at Trial
• Unpaid Overtime Secured Through Litigation
• Unpaid Wages Secured Through Litigation
• Class-based Employment Discrimination Claims via Title VII of the Federal Law or the Florida Human Rights Act under State Law

There are many other employment related issues and statutes, including Whistle Blower cases, the FMLA, etc.  Very often, contractual breach claims may involve fee recoveries.  Interestingly, Florida law makes contracts which mention only one party being able to seek fees a bilateral provision even though it is contrary to the words in the contract.  (See Fla. Stat. Sec. 57.105(7))  Many types of litigation fall under the ambit of the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, which also triggers prevailing party fees.

While it may be surprising and a bit counterintuitive, it is worth checking with an experienced lawyer to see if the recovery you are seeking may not involve you paying any fee at all. Commonly, our clients can recover all of their damages without paying any fees to us. The examples above are only illustrative. Let us understand your unique legal issue and we'll brainstorm ways to keep your recovery all yours while seeking fees from the party who did you wrong.

Family Law Cases

When we are working on an hourly basis, as in family law cases, we have a retainer we bill against at an hourly rate, as well as a total litigation budget. While we aim to stay within the total litigation budget, litigation is always uncertain. In cases where we bill by the hour, we track our time by the fraction of an hour and charge accordingly. Everything is explained in a detailed contract and on our billing statements. Other than for these hourly billing cases, we do not track our time by the hour.

Flat Fee Cases

For the majority of our criminal cases and most of our non-personal injury cases, we work on a flat fee basis. That means we charge a single amount for our attorneys’ time up until a certain point, such as trial, with additional amounts set out for additional services, such as per day of trial, for an appeal, etc.

An issue that gets brought up in a lot of the client conversations that I have are, “Well, how do I make this payment? I don’t think that I can afford the fee all at once.”

We are extremely flexible when it comes to payment plans. We routinely put people on payment plans that are convenient and comfortable for them, and we hope that you keep that in mind.

How does payment work?

Payment is simple.

‍At Aaron Delgado & Associates, we never:

• Charge Finance Charges (regardless of your credit history)
• Run Your Credit
• Ask for a Detailed Financial Statement

We take you at your word, decide on a mutually agreeable fee, divide the fee into payments, and set a payment schedule. For your convenience, we can even schedule automatic payments on a credit or debit card of your choice. We can put you on any of the following payment schedules:

• Charge Finance Charges (regardless of your credit history)
• Run Your Credit
• Ask for a Detailed Financial Statement

For example, a $5,000 legal fee could be paid in five equal installments of $1,000, or half down and the balance in five payments of $500.

Example Payment Plan

What forms of payment do you accept?

We accept all traditional forms of payment, such as:

• Charge Finance Charges (regardless of your credit history)
• Run Your Credit
• Ask for a Detailed Financial Statement

If you are using a card to pay for attorneys' fees, we do not charge a service fee or processing fee.  We process payments through LawPay and can accept payments online HERE, including payments for costs into our escrow account.

In addition to the above, we also accept the following forms of payment:

• Wire Transfers
• ApplePay
• PayPal
• Zelle
• Other Person-to-Person or Bank-toPerson Transfer and Payment Services
• Bitcoin
• Other Cryptocurrencies Using Blockchain Technology
• Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Monero, Bitcoin Cash, etc.

We are not currently accepting organs in the United States, but we do not turn down homemade cookies or cakes.

Additional Costs

For certain cases, Aaron Delgado & Associates will accept pledges of collateral and assignment of personal property, subject to independent valuation. We also can secure long-term payment arrangements through mortgages, promissory notes, and other secured interests in real property, vessels, and vehicles, subject to equity.  We reserve the right to decline to accept these alternative finance options for any reason whatsoever.

Find the Best Attorney Daytona Beach Has to Offer

Costs are always billed in addition to attorneys’ fees and we may hold cost deposits in our escrow account for convenience.  Depending on your financial situation, we may be able to have the government pay some or all of your litigation expenses, including expert witness fees, deposition fees, and other due process costs which are paid by the Justice Administration Commission.

Since there are so many law schools producing so many new lawyers every year, you will find a wide range of legal fees for the same type of case, even in the same city or area.  While competition can be good for a consumer, we offer a superior service and we know our clients agree, which is why we receive so many referrals from our past clients.  It may sound arrogant, but you are hiring lawyers after all, and lawyers need a little ego.

We know our fees are not the lowest in town by any means, and we are unable to compete with some of the prices we hear being quoted.  We do not offer deeply discounted legal services. We offer our absolute best effort, every time, all the time. We know our reputation rides on every client, and we appreciate and respect the trust that comes with being your attorney. We believe you are worth what we charge. We know we are.