BarbriSFCourseDetails
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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    Live Online with Live Q&A

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Beginner

  • work Practice Area

    Ethics

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, July 30, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    60 minutes

Credit Information

  • An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.

$197.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

ALL

This CLE webinar will provide attorneys guidance on key ethical issues and pitfalls to avoid when handling the collection of unpaid fees, termination of services, and withdrawal of counsel. The panel will discuss types of attorneys' fees, ethical billing practices, termination and non-representation letters, collections, file closing, records management, and other key issues.

Faculty

Briana S. Cummings
Partner
O'Rielly & Roche, LLP

Ms. Cummings counsels and advises California law firms on law firm formation and planning, law firm partner departure law, California State Bar defense (including admissions, investigations, and discipline), and serves as outside general counsel to California law firms. She founded her own law practice and has successfully managed it for more than 10 years. Ms. Cummings is a member of the firm’s drafting team, which plans, develops, and drafts law firm partnership agreements, professional corporation documents, shareholder agreements, and law firm registration documents.

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Description

Billing, fee collection, termination of services, and withdrawal of counsel have always been complicated areas for the legal profession. When disputes arise relating to unpaid fees and termination of services, practitioners must balance their financial interest in collecting fees against their duty of loyalty to clients. For this reason, these disputes are subject to scrutiny.

To minimize client disputes over billing, fee collection, and termination of services, and avoid ethical missteps, attorneys must immediately review and reconsider their policies and practices surrounding fee agreements, time tracking, and billing and collections.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines the ethical dilemmas inherent in law firm billing and collection practices, termination of services, and withdrawing from legal matters, and offers practical steps firms can take to avoid ethical violations and legal liability.

Outline

  1. Attorney fee arrangements
  2. Ethical fees and billing practices
  3. Client termination and non-representation letters
  4. Records management
  5. Collection of unpaid fees and costs
  6. Model rules and ethics opinions


Benefits

The panel will discuss these and other key issues:

  • What are the types of attorneys' fees and related challenges?
  • How do you establish and maintain ethical fee arrangements and billing practices?
  • What are the common ethical missteps associated with client terminations?
  • What steps must be followed for client file closing and records management?
  • How can you avoid ethical issues in the collection of unpaid fees and costs?
  • Overview of applicable Model Rules and Ethics Opinions