The rates charged by BLC neutrals and attorneys range from $450 to $700/hour and $125 to $225/hour for paralegals. These rates apply to both legal services and dispute resolution services. Our current rates are as follows:
Affiliates: Our affiliates set their own rates, and you can contact them directly to discuss the cost of their services.
Reasonable costs: We are all committed to having satisfied clients who feel that the cost of our services is fair and reasonable. If you need a financial accommodation to obtain our services, we are willing to talk with you about it.
Billing and retainers: When BLC attorneys are hired, we ordinarily ask for a retainer. This may range from $8,000 on a collaborative law case to $15,000 if the case will be handled in court. If the case involves no court appearance and only a modest expenditure of time, we are willing to consider a smaller amount for a retainer or no retainer. We bill clients on a monthly basis for services performed, and deduct the amount billed from the retainer. Any unused portion of the retainer is returned to the client at the end of the case. Client retainers are kept, as required by court rule, in an IOLTA account. (IOLTA stands for “interest on lawyers’ trust account.”) Interest earned on these accounts is paid by the bank to the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, a non-profit agency that funds legal services for the poor.
Travel: Our office is located at 10 Liberty Square in Boston, but we also meet with clients in Wellesley, where we have space-sharing arrangements with other firms (click here for Directions to those locations). We also are willing to meet with clients at their offices or other mutually agreeable locations. If such travel takes us outside our ordinary commuting path or occurs mid-day, we charge for travel time at 50% of our ordinary hourly rates. This also applies for travel time to and from court or other case-related travel.
Arbitration and Mediation Costs: There are two costs associated with all mediation and arbitration cases:
1. The neutral’s fee, which ranges from $450 to $700 depending on the person that the parties select as their mediator or arbitrator; and
2. An administration fee, which is a flat fee of $200 per party for family cases and $250 per party for commercial cases. For arbitrations that go beyond two calendar days of hearing, there is an additional administration fee of $50/day per party.