For most matters, Van Dyke & Associates bills for its services at standard hourly rates based on the amount of time spent by professionals on the matter. Our hourly rates are reviewed on a periodic basis.  To receive a schedule of our current hourly rates, send a request to: rsvandyke@vdalaw.com .  Some matters, such as the drafting of simple leases, deeds, and certain contracts, preparation of simple wills and powers of attorney, and the formation of business entities, may lend themselves to flat fee billing where the cost of the service will be established in advance.  Some cases, such as those involving a claim for compensation for personal injury, are typically handled on a contingency fee basis.  In most cases, the client is expected to pay expenses such as court costs, filing fees, deposition transcript costs, copying costs, in addition to the fee.

Some matters are relatively simple and can be handled inexpensively.  Other matters are more complicated and will cost more.  An estimate of the fees and expenses for your problem can only be provided after reviewing the details of your specific situation.

It is our common practice to require a retainer of at least $2,000 to open a new case file, which is stored in a secure trust account. If your case is being taken on a contingency fee basis, this retainer will be used to pay expenses, if you are being billed hourly, the retainer will be used to cover expenses and hourly fees. If your issue has been resolved and you still have monies in trust, your will be refunded the remaining balance.

Major expenses, besides the attorneys fees, in prosecuting or defending a lawsuit are filing fees, deposition expenses, expert witnesses, exhibit preparation, and jury fees. 

Deposition fees

Parties are allowed to examine witnesses, under oath, before a court reporter and videographer. Court reporters charge between $1200 to $1500 per day of deposition testimony to take down what is being said by a witness and type it up in question and answer format and provide a printed copy.  If the deposition is videotaped, professional videographers typically charge around $800 a day to videotape the proceeding, and provide a copy of the tape.  The party requesting the deposition bears the cost of these expenses, but can seek reimbursement of the expense at the end of the case from their opponent if successful. This may seem expensive, however, in many cases it is the quickest and most cost effective way to lay the facts of the case out on the table and it is often helpful in opening up a settlement dialog.

Professional expert witnesses are professionals or scholars who are familiar with some factual issue in a case. Doctors, psychologists, economists, accountants, surveyors, and engineers are all commonly designated expert witnesses.  In many situations, it is imperative to obtain an expert witness to corroborate that certain information you allege to be facts are indeed factual. For example: if you allege that a doctor acted negligently while treating you, the only way it can be proven to be a fact is to have a medical expert testify that the doctor actually did act negligently. In this specific situation, you would almost certainly lose your case against the doctor without an expert witness. These professionals charge anywhere between $150 and $600 per hour for their time in the case. Our typical experience is that to perform a study and testify at trial experts will charge between $4,000 to $10,000.

Exhibit preparation

During Trial, it is required that all evidence be presented in exhibit fashion, indexed and compiled into several large binders for reference during testimony. Artwork and professionally produced exhibits can be very effective and sometimes very necessary when presenting complex data to the judge and/or jury. A typical expense in preparing exhibits for trial is between $1,000 and $2,000 depending on the volume of documents. At Van Dyke & Associates, our in-house litigation support team has strong exhibit preparation skills. We are capable of producing our own PowerPoint presentations, comprehensive charts and spreadsheets, and graphic displays for digital projection in the courtroom. Our digital resources reduce costs by eliminating outside professionals and expensive printed displays, and allows us to use state of the art Trial Management methods to present your case effectively.

Jury fees are set by statute.  The jury fee deposit for the first day of trial is $150.  Each juror is paid $15 per day, and mileage of 34 cents one way.  A minimum jury is comprised of 12 persons, although for longer trials a judge may impanel two or three alternates. The average jury panel cost in the El Cajon division of the San Diego Superior Court is $230 per day.

On many types of cases, we offer an initial 30 minute consultation for which we do not charge.  The purpose of this initial consultation is to review the nature of your problem, give the you an indication of whether the case is one that might be handled by Van Dyke & Associates, and discuss the financial arrangements for our representation. This initial consultation can be held in person or over the telephone.

Yes, we accept payment by Visa and PayPal.

Generally, appointments are scheduled weekdays between 9 a .m. to 5 p.m.   In emergencies and special situations evening or weekend appointments might be arranged.