CONTRACT FOR LEGAL SERVICES IN CRIMINAL CASES

THE STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF DALLAS
RE: State of Texas v.   	
Type of Case: DWI— Case #  	

This Contract is entered into by Lawrence G. Boyd of Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, hereinafter referred to as ATTORNEY, and (parents, guardians or responsible parties, hereinafter referred to as CLIENT);
1. ATTORNEY will represent CLIENT by advising and counseling, investigating the law and facts, by preparing for trial and negotiat- ing with the Attorney for the State or United States, and will conduct the Trial for the CLIENT, if a Trial is necessary, or negotiate a plea.
2. In consideration for said ATTORNEY’S Pre-Trial representation of the CLIENT, CLIENT agrees to pay unto the ATTORNEY A STAIR- STEPPED FLAT FEE in the sum of $                 , to be paid by the         day of                     , 20    . Client agrees that third parties may pay this fee to Attorney, whether entirely or in part, and Client agrees and understands that Attorney may receive funds on Client’s behalf from third parties. Attorney and Client agree that the fees contemplated by this Agreement shall be fully earned and become the sole property of Attorney upon the occurrence of the following phases, (“The Work” or “benchmarks” in the
project):
a)  First Benchmark: An initial $_______ is fully earned and becomes the Attorney’s sole property, when Attorney demands the ALR hearing and “appears” in the DWI case by sending a letter of appearance to the County Clerk. The parties understand that, by accepting this Project, Attorney will have to immediately demand a hearing and discovery, answer Client’s questions concerning the matter, talk to witnesses and Client’s family, and “appear” before one or more tribunals who would have to approve Attorney’s withdrawal from the matter, which would involve substantial additional time and effort on Attorney’s part. Therefore, the parties agree and understand that the Attorney is entitled to this “signing bonus” upon commencement of The Work and shall be immediately entitled to withdraw that amount from Client’s funds, place those funds into the Attorney’s personal or operating account, and that Client shall not be entitled to any refund for that part of the fee following commence- ment of The Work and the completion of the first “benchmark”;
b) Second Benchmark: An additional $______ is fully earned and becomes the sole property of Attorney following the ALR hearing. Client agrees and understands that Attorney may or may not issue a subpoena for the ALR hearing, since only Attorney has the knowledge and experience to have an opinion as to whether a subpoena would be helpful or whether the documents received from DPS appear to warrant a hearing based on documents alone. Further, Client understands and agrees that, should the Attorney win the ALR hearing (i.e., Client does not lose his or her driving privileges), that the entire fee is reasonable, and will become the sole property of Attorney, regardless of whether or not Attorney also applies for an occupational license on Client’s behalf. Client shall not be entitled to any refund based upon Attorney winning the ALR hearing and eliminating the need for an “ODL” due to the obvious benefit to the Client. Both parties agree that having to obtain an “ODL” is a great deal of extra work for the Attorney and that it further reduces the value of the total fee to Attorney as opposed to creating a Benefit or “windfall” to the Attorney.
c)  Third Benchmark: The balance of the fee is fully earned and becomes the sole property of the Attorney when the Final Announcement Date is scheduled, as set forth in Paragraph 3. At this point, Attorney will provide a letter to Client explaining the plea bargain offer and informing Client that he must now elect as to whether to accept a plea bargain offer or set the case for trial.
3. In consideration for said ATTORNEY’S TRIAL representation of the CLIENT, CLIENT agrees to pay unto the ATTORNEY an additional TRIAL FEE in the sum of $ 	_____ for a TRIAL BEFORE THE COURT or $ 	(extra) for a JURY TRIAL, to be paid as follows: On Final Announcement date, Client will either accept the plea bargain offer from the State or reject the plea bargain offer and set the case for Trial. Attorney shall not set the case for Trial until Client pays the applicable Trial Fee in Full. If Client cannot pay the Trial Fee in full, Client shall assist Attorney in withdrawing from the case. Trial Fee pertains to One Trial Only. If the case has to be retried for any reason, this will require an additional TRIAL FEE.
4. In the event that any Trial shall run in excess of two days, Client agrees to pay an additional fee at the rate of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per daily Trial appearance. This additional fee shall become due and payable as soon as Client is advised that these extra Trial appearance days will be necessary.
5. It is further understood that the above Attorney’s fee, as outlined above, does not include any expenses for special investigation, expert witnesses, scientific tests, photographs, witness expense, etc. However, no investigation expenses will be incurred without the CLIENT’S oral or written permission. It is further understood and agreed that the Attorney’s fee above set out, does not include further bail bonds, court costs, long distance telephone calls, copying costs, mileage, certified or registered postage, photographs, out of town expenses, fines, court costs, drivers license surcharges, costs of records or transcripts, Motions for a New Trial or an Appeal, if such should become necessary or an expunction.
6. Other conditions and terms to this agreement are as follows: Fee contemplates that “The Work” on this project will be as follows: ALR hearing, including one (1) subpoena for the arresting officer, if Attorney decides that the presence of the officer would be helpful to a favorable outcome. Each additional subpoena will require an additional $250.00 per subpoena, in order to compensate Attorney for the extra work involved, as well as additional service fees and amounts to be paid to the Officer in order to secure the officer’s attendance. Fee does not include an ALR appeal, ALR transcript, or $125.00 reinstatement fee to DPS, if we lose the Client’s license at the ALR hearing. If we lose the license at the ALR hearing, fee includes representation to obtain an occupational drivers license (“ODL”) but not court costs and filing fees (currently $232.00 in a Dallas case), which must be paid in advance of filing the “ODL” petition in addition to any regularly-scheduled payment. Fee does not include SR-22 (insurance), which must be furnished by Client at his or her expense. Fee does not include driving record from DPS, which Client has been instructed to obtain immediately and at his or her expense. If case is to be tried to a jury, Attorney will withdraw and  will substitute as Attorney for Jury Trial for a portion of Attorney’s Trial Fee to be determined by Attorney and that fellow attorney, to be based upon Attorney’s customary agreement with that fellow attorney and the amount of work performed by each attorney. Pre-trial representation does not include Blood Test discovery beyond what that particular District Attorney’s Office supplies through the standard informal discovery process in that county at that time (i.e., does not include gas chromato- grams or records of confirmatory tests, which requires a Trial Fee). Motion to Suppress requires Client to pay Bench Trial Fee unless Motion to Suppress is contemplated as a precursor to JURY TRIAL, which requires JURY TRIAL fee. CLIENT consents to ATTORNEY discussing this matter with any third party who paid any part of the ATTORNEY’S fee.
7. It is further understood and agreed by the parties hereto that should the case be settled or dismissed in any other manner than by contested trial after a JURY TRIAL fee is paid and case is set for JURY TRIAL, no part of the fee is to be returned. Client understands and agrees that setting a case for a Jury Trial is a serious decision and that it will require extensive preparation, thereby prevent- ing Attorney from engaging in many normal personal activities or from accepting further employment, and that trial preparation will probably consume nights and weekends, particularly the weekend before trial. On the date of a jury trial, the State will sometimes make a greatly improved plea bargain offer, or even dismiss the case entirely. While there is absolutely no guarantee of that, if that should occur, and Client decides to accept, e.g., “obstructing,” the Client understands and agrees that Attorney’s trial preparation alone was worth the TRIAL FEE, in full, regardless of the fact that the Trial did not proceed to a verdict. Should the ATTORNEY’S services be terminated at any stage, no part of the fee that shall have already been fully earned by the Attorney at that particular benchmark of the Work shall be returned to CLIENT.
8. It is expressly agreed and understood by the parties that NO GUARANTEE AS TO THE OUTCOME OF THIS CASE HAS BEEN MADE; but this attorney agrees to exert the best efforts in securing the best benefits to the Defendant that he is capable of producing, providing that the above referenced fee is paid on time and in the amount agreed to, and the Defendant cooperates with said attorney and appears in Court when the Court requests him to be present.
9. It is further understood and agreed by the parties to this agreement that in the event the CLIENT is charged with another distinct and different crime the legal fee charged and agreed on herein does not include the new defense.
10. It is expressly agreed and stated that no fees paid on behalf of CLIENT were obtained by any illegal source.
11. NOTICE TO CLIENTS: The State Bar of Texas investigates and prosecutes professional misconduct committed by Texas attorneys. Although not every complaint against or dispute with a lawyer involves professional misconduct, the State Bar’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel will provide you with information about how to file a complaint. In that event, please call 1-800-932-1900 toll-free for more information.

The undersigned, having read and thoroughly understanding the foregoing Contract, do hereby agree and accept the same. SIGNED this  	 day of  	, 201    .
By:  	 LAWRENCE G. BOYD Attorney & Counselor at Law
4303 N. Central Expy. Dallas, TX 75205
Tel. No (214) 691-5630
TBC# 02275200