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NALFA’s Fee Dispute Program More Successful Than Bar-Administered Programs

November 16, 2016 | Posted in : Fee Dispute, Fee Dispute Litigation / ADR, Fee Expert / Member, NALFA News

Attorney fee disputes are the result of a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.  This breakdown may be a misunderstanding in the fee agreement or confusion over the law firm billing records.  Whatever the cause, mediation is the quickest, simplest, and most cost effective way to resolve these attorney fee disputes.  NALFA offers a private mediation service specifically designed to resolve attorney fee disputes of all types and sizes.

Types of Fee Disputes

NALFA has identified 4 types of fee disputes that qualify for our mediation program:

  1. Attorney-Client Fee Dispute: Dispute between an attorney and a client over the fees/costs in an underlying matter.
  2. Opposing Party Fee Dispute: Dispute between a prevailing party and a non-prevailing party over the reasonableness of fees/costs in a fee award.
  3. Attorney Fee Allocation Dispute: Dispute among attorneys over their share of fees/costs.
  4. Attorney Fee Entitlement Dispute: Dispute among attorneys over entitlement to fees/costs.

Our fee dispute mediators are uniquely qualified to resolve fee disputes between parties in a cost effective and confidential manner.  Our fee dispute mediators are trained neutrals who understand the underlying issues in fee and billing dispute matters.  Our fee dispute mediators include former judges, seasoned litigators, and in-house counsel. 

Our fee dispute mediators are highly knowledgeable on reasonable attorney fees and proper legal billing practices.  They understand the array of issues in fee dispute cases such as fee agreements, hourly rates, tasked performed, fee entitlement, attorney fee ethics, and fee award factors.  Our mediators can often provide each side with an unbiased assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of their case.  They can also discuss with the parties what might happen if the fee dispute does not settle. 

Since our program began in 2012, NALFA’s Fee Dispute Mediation Program has achieved a 86% success rate—parties who mediate in a session are resolved six out of every seven times.  This rate is significantly higher than most bar-administered fee dispute programs.

NALFA is dedicated to providing parties a mediation process that offers flexibility, a level playing field, and time and cost savings.  Parties control when and where the mediation will occur, who will serve as the mediator, and whether they will accept a settlement offer.  Unlike most bar-administered programs, NALFA stays with the case as long as necessary to bring it to a resolution.