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Mandatory Fee Arbitration

We pride ourselves on our roster of highly qualified professionals. With years of experience across various law domains, we ensure that cases are managed by the best-suited individuals.

Eligibility Criteria

The program mainly serves disputes where the attorney's office is located in Los Angeles County or if a significant portion of the client's legal services were rendered there.

Expert Arbitrators

We pride ourselves on our roster of highly qualified professionals. With years of experience in all practice areas, we ensure that cases are managed by the best-suited individuals.

Filing Fee

The filing fee is 5% (for disputes under $10,000) or 7% (for disputes of $10,000 or more) but never but never exceeds $5,000.

The Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program (MFAP) is a specialized service for resolving fee and/or cost disagreements between clients and their previous attorneys. This includes issues surrounding the return or refund of prepaid fees that haven’t been earned.

Key Features and Benefits of BHBA’s MFAP:

  • State Bar of California Approval: Our MFAP is officially recognized by the State Bar of California Board of Trustees.
 
 
  • Versatility: Both clients and attorneys can utilize the program for dispute resolution, choosing between mediation and arbitration.
 
  • Inclusive Filing Fee: Your filing fee encompasses four hours of mediation with a skilled mediator. If mediation doesn’t yield results, the case moves to arbitration without the need for an additional fee or application.
 
  • Structured Hearing Process: For disputes up to $15,000, a single arbitrator presides. Disputes exceeding this amount are typically managed by a three-member panel (two lawyers and one non-lawyer). However, both parties can agree for a single arbitrator to handle larger disputes.
 
  • Eligibility Criteria: The program mainly serves disputes where the attorney’s office is located in Los Angeles County or if a significant portion of the client’s legal services were rendered there. BHBA membership for attorneys isn’t a prerequisite for the MFAP.
 
  • Expert Arbitrators and Mediators: We pride ourselves on our roster of highly qualified professionals. With years of experience in all practice areas, we ensure that cases are managed by the best-suited individuals.

In order to initiate and undergo Mandatory Fee Arbitration, all parties must carefully follow established procedures. Select the tab that best applies to you to learn more.

While we cannot give you legal advice about your dispute, we are available to assist you with understanding the program and the procedures. For a better understanding of your rights, please read the rules carefully and if you have questions, contact the Mandatory Fee Arbitration office at  or (310) 601-2442.

Do you want to initiate a fee dispute with your Attorney?

You pay the filing fee after completing the form. The filing fee must be paid at the time of filing this request and is based on the total amount in dispute. If the amount in dispute is $10,000 or less, you pay 5% of that amount plus a $50 non-refundable fee. If the amount in dispute is more than $10,000, you pay 7% of that amount plus a $50 non-refundable fee. The maximum filing fee is $5,000. When submitting this request by mail, the filing fee must be paid by check and attached to your completed form. Do not send cash.

The filing fee entitles you to up to four (4) hours of mediation time and /or four (4) hours of arbitration time. If the matter resolves in mediation, the fee can be part of the resolution agreement. If the matter proceeds to arbitration, the fee is then allocated in the arbitration award.

Did you receive a Notice of Client's Right to Arbitration?

If you are initiating the fee dispute because you received a Notice of Client’s Right to Arbitration from the attorney, a returned form will affect your filing date. The filing date is the day that our office receives your completed form. If you do not file by the 30-day deadline as stated in the notice, you will have waived your right to arbitration, thereby allowing the attorney to sue you to collect fees.

Have you been sued?

If you have been sued, you may stay the action by filing a Notice of Automatic Stay form with a copy of your completed request for arbitration with the court and the attorney. This means the court will stop the proceeding until the mediation/arbitration is complete. Instructions for completing the form can be found here.

Rules of Procedure Governing BHBA Fee Arbitrations
For a better understanding of your rights please read the BHBA Rules of Procedure for Fee Arbitrations. Please also note these important rules references and applicable sections of the B&P Code.

Beverly Hills Bar Association fee arbitration matters are governed by the State Bar of California rules of procedure for fee arbitrations. While we cannot give you legal advice about your dispute, we are available to assist you with understanding the program and the proceduresPlease read the rules carefully and if you have questions, contact the Mandatory Fee Arbitration office at  or (310) 601-2442. 

Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program

The BHBA’s California State Bar approved MANDATORY FEE ARBITRATION PROGRAM handles fee and cost disputes between lawyers and their clients, including claims of return of non-earned prepaid fees.

The Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program

The Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program is conducted under the auspices of the State Bar. It is governed by Business and Professions Code Sections 6200-6206 (and not CCP Section 1289 et seq.) and is open to any client or attorney, within Los Angeles County, seeking to settle a fee dispute through either mediation or arbitration.

The Beverly Hills Bar Fee Arbitration Program can accept any Attorney-Client fee dispute if a substantial portion of the services were performed in Los Angeles County. It is not necessary for the attorney to be a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association in order to participate in the Fee Arbitration Program. Attorneys or clients from other counties can file In Los Angeles County only if a substantial portion (at least fifty percent) of the case took place in the County, by virtue of the client’s location or the attorney’s office.

The BHBA program has qualified arbitrators with expertise in all areas of practice and makes every effort to assign appropriate arbitrators to respective hearings. While most hearings average three to four hours, complex litigation has been known to continue for up to three days. Should the hearing exceed four hours, the BHBA Rules of Procedure provide for payment to the arbitrators by parties to the arbitration.

The program consists of both mediation and arbitration.

The filing fee includes four hours of free mediation by a trained mediator, should both parties agree to this; if the mediation goes beyond this time period, the mediator is allowed to charge their hourly rate. Many times a dispute can be settled in mediation; however, arbitration will be scheduled should this not occur.

Fee disputes under $15,000 are heard by one arbitrator while disputes over $15,000 are heard by a panel of three arbitrators – two attorney members and one non-attorney. If both parties agree, cases over $15,000 may be heard by one arbitrator. 

Arbitrators are selected from a panel of experienced attorneys and non-attorneys who volunteer their time to help resolve fee disputes. 

Certain requirements and restrictions apply to the actual filing of a case with the BHBA program.

Requirement:

Before an attorney can sue a client for fees, the Business and Professions code requires that the attorney advise the client of his/her right to fee arbitration. This is done through use of the State Bar Approved Form, Rev. March, 2013 Notice of Client’s Right to Arbitrate. The use of this form is mandatory. Incorporation of the same or similar language contained in the form on independent stationary or in the body of a letter from the attorney to the client is NOT legally accepted as a substitute.

Restrictions:

Under California law, the attorney cannot initiate the arbitration or compel the client to participate under the process. The only way an attorney can compel a client to arbitrate a fee dispute is if there is a provision (clause) in the fee agreement/retainer, to which all parties agree, that any fee disputes will be submitted to arbitration under Business and Professions Code Sections 6200 through 6206. However, this clause cannot indicate that the arbitration will be binding. Also, parties cannot agree that they will mediate a fee dispute, prior to the dispute over legal fees; the client and attorney can agree to mediation and/or binding arbitration only after the dispute arises.

For more information about Fee Arbitration matters, please contact Elaine Glass, Fee Arbitration Administrator at (310) 601-2442 or feearb [at] bhba.org.

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