The one question every single person who ever contacts us looking for help is…

How much will this cost me?

It’s a reasonable question, and the unhelpful answer is that is almost impossible to tell (unless you have a smaller matter that we might handle on a flat-fee basis). Your case is unique, and what it will take to properly handle it will also be unique. But it’s not fair to you for us to leave that as the last word on the subject, and we do want to make sure you are as educated regarding pricing as possible. We have surveyed dozens of our former clients over the years, and over ninety (90%) percent of them report feeling that they paid as much or less than they expected to pay.

A Different Kind of Billing Model

For decades (if not centuries), the “normal” model was for attorneys to bill by the hour. It’s always been telling to me that law firms have to force their clients to pay huge up-front deposits before they start working – clearly, they are worried that clients won’t pay in a large number of cases.

At Dunham Legal, we don’t like billing by the hour, because hourly billing rewards inefficiency and punishes expertise. When lawyers charge for time, the client’s best outcome – a fast, effective resolution – actually costs the lawyer money. That misalignment creates stress and distrust, even when everyone is acting in good faith.

Instead, we use clear, predictable fees that reflect the value of the work, not the minutes it takes. You’ll always know what a task costs before we do it, which means no surprise bills, no anxiety about picking up the phone, and no incentive for anyone to drag things out. This approach keeps our interests aligned with yours: we’re both focused on results. It also lets us invest in tools, systems, and experience that make your case move faster — without you paying more just because we worked efficiently.

We bill most cases for up to four types of fees:

1. Often we will recommend a pre-suit demand letter, for which we will charge you a flat $495.** We won’t generally charge you for any more work unless you decide to move forward with litigation, and we typically do not require collection of this fee before we send the letter.
2. When you do engage us for litigation, you will pay an Initial Case Fee of $3,000.** This allows us to start working on your case right away and covers the up-front investment of time we need in order to prepare your complaint or your answer (as the case may be), initial discovery, and other matters necessary to start working on your case.
3. Beginning with the second month, you will pay an Ongoing Monthly Fee of $750 per month. Charging and billing you this way allows us to escape the billable hour – you will not pay for time we spend reading and responding to emails and text messages, or having telephone conversations, whether with you, opposing counsel, court personnel, witnesses, or other third parties. This allows you to budget for your legal fees in a much more predictable way.
4. There are a number of Litigation Event Fees which we may charge, depending on what is needed for your case. We will always discuss these before you are charged, so that you understand why they are needed. These decisions are made in partnership – you are paying for our advice, but the actions we take are on your case, so you will be the ultimate arbiter of what you need, want, and/or feel you can afford. Some examples of common Litigation Event Fees include:
   • motions – $4,000 (early dispositive), $8,000 (late dispositive) or $1,500 (others)
   • depositions – $4,000 (if we are taking) or $2,000 (if we are defending), plus court reporter fees
   • third-party discovery – $1,500 per set
   • initial engagement with expert – $1,500 per expert
   • mediation – $4,000 per day (including prep. time)
   • hearings and bench trials – $4,000 (for a half-day) or $6,000 per day
   • jury trials – $9,000 per day

** For a dispossessory case, the Initial Case Fee is $1,500. Typically, we will collect $1,995 when you engage the firm; $495 will be earned when paid and will cover the demand for possession; if the tenant then timely vacates without us having to litigate, the remainder (i.e., the Initial Case Fee) will be refunded to you. Otherwise, the Initial Case Fee is due and paid when we file suit, and you will not incur Ongoing Monthly Fees through the first trial of the dispossessory case. If the tenant files an appeal or takes other action after the first trial, Ongoing Monthly Fees will be charged as noted above.

Hourly Matters

To be clear, there are also a handful of cases where we still follow the traditional, hourly-rate model. Currently, our hourly rates are:

• for Michael R. Dunham – $450 per hour
• for Carly G. Long – $150 per hour

Let us just say, right up front – there are other lawyers who charge lower hourly rates. We don’t pretend to be the cheapest. We do believe, however, that we provide substantial value at these rates. You can hire a lawyer who charges half as much, but if it takes him three times as long to do the job, how did you do?

That, of course, begs the question – how many hours will it take to resolve my case? This is another difficult question to answer because it depends on how much work we’ll have to do, which in turn depends on many factors outside our (or your) control, including but not limited to:

• How difficult or complex are the issues?
• How many different parties are there?
• How many different things are there to fight over?
• What (or how much) is at stake?
• How hard will the other side fight?

The list of factors and questions to be considered is practically endless.

We will also bill you for certain types of expenses associated with your case. Unlike some firms, we will not bill you for small incidental expenses like postage and copy costs; nor will we bill you a monthly “administrative fee” or some such to cover such expenses. But for more expensive and/or irregular expenses like courier services, court reporting expenses (for depositions, hearings, etc.), or third-party costs for other professionals such as mediators or experts, we will advance those costs and bill you for them. Note that generally speaking, we will discuss such expenses with you before they are incurred, so that you aren’t surprised when you see your next bill.

We will also likely ask you for what we commonly refer to as a retainer. This is an advance deposit which will cover your fees and expenses as they are incurred. If your retainer runs low or is exhausted, you will be notified and we will ask you to replenish it. The size of the retainer will vary, and typically we do not like to quote retainers until after we’ve had a chance to review and discuss your case with you.

A couple of things to note about our retainers. Unlike some firms, we do not require “evergreen” retainers, i.e. retainers which must be kept to a minimum level on a monthly basis – we believe most people have enough trouble with finances without having to tie up thousands of dollars expected to sit idle for months or even years. In addition, very often the retainer should not be considered the full cost of your case; indeed, we regularly conclude cases without exhausting the retainer paid to us, in which case the balance is promptly refunded to the (hopefully very satisfied) client.

Flat Fee Matters

We do have a handful of matters we handle on a “flat fee” basis, in an effort to give you some predictability, and in some cases to make sure we keep certain matters affordable, including the following:

• You might be surprised at how often a pre-suit demand letter will be enough to make an opposing party pay what is owed or otherwise take action to resolve a disputed issue. We will send that letter for $495, which includes delivery via FedEx Express, and typically we will field a short email or phone call from the recipient without billing you for that call.
• Estate planning packages consisting of a basic last will and testament ($395), an advance directive for health care ($195), and a durable power of attorney ($195) are available for $695 for a single person, or $995 for a married couple. If you need only one or two of these instruments, the prices are as listed. Please note this covers a basic package only; if you have a more complex estate planning matter, we will refer you to one of our strategic partners. Please contact us for more information.
• We act as the registered agent and registered office with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office FOR FREE. We also handle annual registrations for our client entities at no cost, as a service to our clients – you will only be charged whatever the State charges us (typically $50 per year registered, or $75 if there is a late registration).
• If you have a company which has failed to keep up with its annual registrations, your entity may have been “administratively dissolved”, and we can help clean that issue up for you and bring your company back into good standing with the State. Again, we handle this service for free; you are only charged whatever the State charges us (usually this is a few hundred dollars).
• A basic real estate instrument such as a quit-claim deed can be prepared for $295, and if you ask us to have that instrument recorded in the county real estate records for you, we will do that for free.
• We will prepare a basic, but comprehensive prenuptial or postnuptial agreement for $1,500.
• We will prepare a basic, single-member limited liability company (LLC) – including trade name registration, preparation and filing of organizing documents, and obtaining state and federal tax identification numbers – for $750.

Hopefully you find this information helpful, but what we want to stress the most is – your case is as unique as you are, and the cost of having us (or any other lawyer) handle it will depend on a great many factors. The best way to determine how much you can expect to spend is to contact us so we can properly evaluate and discuss your case with you, without delay.