Motschenbacher & Blattner llp is pleased to have the opportunity to serve you. This memorandum contains information about our standard client service practices and billing procedures that will apply to your account unless we have agreed otherwise in writing. Your request of legal services from Motschenbacher & Blattner llp will indicate your acceptance of these terms. We strive to ensure that legal services are delivered effectively, efficiently, and professionally and that all billings are accurate and understandable. Please feel free to call us with any questions you may have.

Personnel
One lawyer will be assigned primary responsibility for your legal needs. Additional lawyers may assist from time to time when appropriate. We assign lawyers and other personnel on the basis of experience, expertise, and the nature and scope of the issues. This provides you with an appropriate level of expertise within the firm while minimizing the cost to you. We also utilize law clerks, legal assistants, and legal secretaries to perform routine services, such as information gathering, form preparation, and research. These services are supervised by an experienced attorney, but can be billed at substantially lower rates.

Conflicts of Interest
The ethical rules governing the conduct of attorneys include specific limitations relating to conflicts of interest. We will always comply with all ethical rules and will undertake our role with the highest integrity. As a result, we have performed a name check of our other clients to determine if our representation of you would create such a conflict of interest. That check was done using your name and other names you provided before we commenced working with you. Please inform us immediately if you use other names or have affiliated companies that you want entered into our conflicts system.

Basis for Fees
Our fees are based upon a variety of factors, depending on the nature of the representation. The principal factor is usually time spent on the matter. You should expect to be charged for all time devoted to the initial consultation through the conclusion of the project, including office conferences, telephone discussions, correspondence, review of documents and correspondence, research, travel, and any other time expended on your behalf. Other factors, in addition to time, can include the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved; the experience, reputation, and abilities of the lawyers serving you; past investment in developing files and data; the amount at issue; the results obtained; and time limitations imposed by you or by the circumstances of the matter. Hourly rates of our lawyers and legal assistants reflect fees generally charged in the Northwest based on the lawyers' experience and expertise. Premium rates will apply to rush projects. We may modify our rates from time to time and will provide you notice of any change. A statement of rates is available at any time upon request.

Costs and Expenses
M&B may from time to time advance or incur costs and expenses on your behalf that we will charge to you. Examples include court filing fees, deposition or transcript fees, investigator’s fees and expenses, consulting or expert witness fees and expenses, title company reports, long distance telephone charges, photocopying, printing, computerized legal research, travel expenses, messenger services, project staff, secretarial overtime, postage, and other similar costs. We do not seek to profit on these types of expenses, but rather charge on a cost (including labor and overhead) recovery basis only. Out-of-pocket expenses paid to third parties on behalf of our clients are charged to the client without markup except as may be necessary to recover related labor and overhead. Although out-of-pocket expenses are your responsibility and we assume no liability for payment, M&B may act on your behalf by advancing payment to these providers if your account is current. We will consult with you prior to entering into any commitments for substantial expense items.

For administrative convenience, if a client has multiple matters open with our firm, costs and expenses will usually be charged to the general matter account unless other arrangements are requested.

Estimates
Clients sometimes request estimates of the fees and costs, and we are pleased to provide a good faith estimate of the amounts that are likely to be involved. However, most legal work is inherently unpredictable, and the total time, fees and costs that will be required to complete a project is subject to many factors beyond our control. Our estimates, therefore, are not binding bids or limitations on the fees and expenses involved. Any fixed fee or other fee limitation agreement must be in writing.

Retainer Deposits
Retainer deposits are required for various types of representation to partially secure payment of fees and expenses. Retainer deposit moneys received from you will be placed in our client trust account, which conforms to the rules and regulations of the Oregon and Washington State Bars relating to IOLTA--Interest on Lawyer's Trust Accounts. If you have a retainer on deposit with us, we will draw against it to satisfy our monthly statements for legal services rendered and out-of-pocket expenses. We reserve the right to request additional retainer deposits as needed. If a request for an additional retainer deposit is not satisfied within the time specified, we reserve the right to withdraw from representing you.

Privacy Policy
Attorneys, like other professionals who advise on personal financial matters, are now required by federal law to inform clients of their policies regarding privacy of client information. Attorneys are bound by professional standards of confidentiality that are even more stringent than those required by this new law. Therefore, we always protect your right to privacy.

In the course of providing our clients with financial and tax advice, we receive significant personal financial information from our clients. All information that we receive from you is held in confidence, and is not released to people outside the firm, except as agreed to by you, or as required under an applicable law.

We retain records relating to professional services that we provide so that we are better able to assist you with your professional needs and, in some cases, to comply with professional guidelines. In order to guard your nonpublic personal information, we maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with our professional standards.

Credit Reports
We retain the right to intermittently obtain credit reports on you and your company and to inform credit-reporting agencies regarding your account with us.

Personal Guaranty
All fees and costs incurred on behalf of clients that are entities, are personally guarantied by the owners of the entity.

Monthly Invoices
M&B typically bills monthly, with our monthly billing cycle ending on the last day of each calendar month. Our statements are mailed shortly thereafter and are payable in full upon receipt. Other billing arrangements must be specifically provided for in advance in our retainer agreement. A statement of account will be forwarded to you automatically each month if you have any outstanding invoices. For matters involving multiple clients (e.g. husband and wife) responsibility for payment is joint and several. If you have any questions about the status of your account, please contact us immediately.

For most of our clients, our invoices include the date and description of the services provided and the amount charged based upon the time equivalent value of the task accomplished. Time charges are calculated in tenths of an hour, with a minimum charge of 0.2 hour. We attempt to provide a reasonable amount of detail, however, we do not undertake to provide precise and exhaustive detailing of each and every act on behalf of a client. Please feel free to talk with us about the amount of detail and format you desire for your invoices.

Payment for Services
Payment for services rendered is due upon receipt of our statement for services. M&B accepts payment in cash or check and also accepts payment by Visa or Mastercard credit cards. If payment or a retainer deposit is made by credit card, a 3% service charge will be applied to payments or deposits in excess of $1,000.00.

Delinquent Accounts
M&B, like other businesses, has substantial cash demands that require the firm to borrow money if its accounts are not paid promptly. Thus, we add a late payment charge to accounts not paid within thirty days of the invoice date. The late payment charge is currently assessed at a standard rate of 1.5% per month (18% annual rate) on any unpaid balance. In the event that an account becomes delinquent, the firm must employ the same prudent collection procedures used by other businesses. We will cease providing legal services for any client having an outstanding balance for 60 days or more. If any suit, action, arbitration or other proceeding is commenced to collect from you, the prevailing party will be entitled to an award against the other party for reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in collection. We reserve all liens and security interests allowed by law and reserve the right to disclose your personal financial information to third parties to collect a delinquent account.

Governing Law
The parties agree that any suit, action, arbitration, or other claims filed for collection or otherwise shall be brought and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Oregon and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of any state or federal court located in Oregon.

Termination of Services
You may terminate the employment of our firm at any time, subject to the payment of any outstanding fees and costs. Likewise, we retain the right to cease performing legal services and to terminate our representation of you for any reason consistent with the applicable ethical rules, including unanticipated conflicts of interest or nonpayment of legal fees and expenses incurred on your behalf. In the event of termination, we may obtain a lien upon any of your documents in our possession, or upon the proceeds of any judgment or settlement entered in your favor, until payment in full is received.

File Retention
When we have completed work on a legal matter, we will close our file and place it in storage for up to 10 years. We will then destroy the files unless you give us other disposition instructions at the time of closing the matter.

Statement of Policy Concerning Federal Tax Advice

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

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