Law Office of Thomas J. Swenson

Standard billing rate: $325 per hour of attorney time.

No charge for initial telephone interview.

For some work involving captive insurance companies, fixed rates apply.

No charges for clerical and secretarial tasks.  No padding of expenses incurred on behalf of client.

An engagement letter describes the scope of attorney services to be provided and the fee agreement.

Typical billing and payment procedures:

1. Client makes payment of agreed-upon deposit/retainer amount for deposit into the trust fund account managed by law office for client funds;
2. upon performance of services, law office issues invoice to client (e.g., monthly or upon completion of project) and
3. simultaneously withdraws invoiced amount from client trust fund account;
4. client then replenishes trust fund account to maintain agreed-upon deposit/retainer amount.

Accordingly, the law office pays itself from the client trust fund account only after performance of services for which an invoice has been sent to client. Client reserves the power to dismiss attorney at any time and receive back unused portion of deposit/retainer.

Generally, the Law Office does not offer fixed, flat-rate fee arrangements to clients. The customized, comprehensive analysis and planning provided by the office typically make it impossible precisely to quote fixed fees for legal services and counseling necessary to complete a particular task or project. The prevailing view here is that flat-rate fees inherently and inevitably cause the quality of services to suffer. Nevertheless, this office gladly provides completely non-binding, order-of-magnitude estimates of costs associated with various types of tasks and projects.

For a limited number of select clients, the Law Office of Thomas J. Swenson is able to provide family office/concierge attorney services.

Concierge attorney service means that a substantial portion of attorney time and resources are directed to the special projects of a client.

For example, a high net-worth individual might use family office/concierge services for:

• analysis of business and family assets;
• research of appropriate U.S. and foreign laws regarding taxation, asset protection and legal entities; and
• design and implementation of an integrated plan that includes wealth-building, tax saving, asset protection and estate planning.

In special circumstances involving exclusive concierge/family office services, alternative fee arrangements can be considered.

Exemplary family office/concierge attorney services include: analyzing complex legal and business matters; negotiating business agreements; drafting complex legal documents; international travel.