This page has some items on reasonable fee law that may prove helpful in advancing your thinking or research on the subject.

In Arthur Anderson & Co., v. Perry Equipment Corp., (Texas May 16, 1997), the Texas Supreme Court held that evidence of a contingency fee contract by itself cannot support an award of attorney's fees. The plaintiff must present evidence of the reasonableness and necessity of fees in light of the eight factors required by the Texas disciplinary Rules. 

It has sometimes been said that a fair fee will normally do three things, to wit:

Most court decisions, however, use eight factors in determining a reasonable fee.  The Texas Supreme Court is representative of the majority.  In Texas the following are relevant factors that should be considered (and thus can be put into evidence as relevant) in determining what is a reasonable attorney fee. [They are traditionally considered as only eight items, but really the first item, which has to do with the hourly fee rate multiplied by the hours of time, can be broken down into 3 sub items.] See Arthur Anderson & Co. v. Perry Equipment Corp., 945 SW2d 812 (TX, 1997) (citing TX Disc. Sec 1.04) R. Prof. Conduct

The usual formula of Texas courts is to say that it will consider the factors contained within the Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct in determining whether the fees were reasonable and necessary, and to stay only with those factors. [Cf.  Bocquet, 972 S.W.2d at 21-22, citing TEX.DISCIPLINARY R. PROF. CONDUCT 1.04]  The enumerated factors are the eight factors set out above.

Note: Some state and federal courts recast the second item sometimes as "the undesirability of the case", and the third item as "awards in similar cases" E.g., See Johnson v. George Highway Express, Inc., 488 F2d 714 (5th Cir. 1974).

But expert testimony needs a base. Attorneys seeking fees must keep time records!  In Heritage Resources, Inc. v Hill 8th Court of Appeals - El Paso February 13, 2003 - 08-01-00383-CV, the appeals court said it might have awarded more, but the evidence was hampered by the fact that no time records were maintained by the attorneys, their legal assistants or staff for the 9,150 billable hours claimed, with the result that 100 hours of time were deemed reasonable and equitable for the time involved in the case.

Because expert testimony of a reasonable fee is required, the only recourse contesting sides' attorneys usually have has is to have an expert testify.  Although states commonly include in their disciplinary rules an exception to the bar on an attorney testifying in his own case for testimony limited to the attorney fee, it really is not good trial advocacy to talk too highly of oneself (the jurors probably prefer to have an expert praise or criticize.)  Click here for hints on adverse expert witness depositions.

North Dakota has judicially noted the elements that go into determining a reasonable fee.  Other states also have set out the elements in court decisions. See City of Bismarck v. Thom (ND, 1977) stating that the base for determining a reasonable fee is found by multiplying the number of hours expended by each attorney by the hourly rate normally charged for similar work by attorneys of like skill in the area.  The court noted that it was for similar work by attorneys of like skill,  which is not necessarily the same as the average hourly rate of all attorneys in the area.  When this base rate is established than other less objective factors are introduced to determine a reasonable fee.

Norman, 836 F.2d at 1305-06. (“The court on reconsideration should bear in mind that the measure of reasonable hours is determined by the profession’s judgment of the time that may be conscionably billed and not the least time in which it might theoretically have been done.")

The Evidence Required to Prove the Validity of Legal Assistant Fees as a Compensable Component of Attorney Fee Awards is discussed by Vicki Kelly Britain at 63 Texas Bar Journal 261 (2000).   Although Texas courts have approved legal assistant hourly rates of $90 an hour (e.g., In the Interest of JLB, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 4901), often legal assistant fees have been disapproved in whole or in part.  Often the key to getting the legal assistant's fees approved (or disapproved) as legal fees is the testimony of an expert.

Persons starting to think about attorney fees per hour might start with some of the resources offered by the state bar associations.  For example see the Texas State Bar Law Office Management Program at http://www.texasbar.com/members/buildpractice/lomp/resource.htm

Bucklin's services

More research notes on the law of reasonable attorney fees.

The most common alternative billing methods.