One of the most common concerns that attorneys bring up when they ask for our help with attorney fee deferrals is that they do not have any big cases that they can defer their contingent fees on. The attorneys often tell us that they usually only get small to intermediate-sized cases, and so they think they will not be able to defer their fees.
Why Is It a Good Idea to Set Up a Deferred Compensation Plan?
Here is the key point: There is no minimum fee deferral amount if you use a deferred compensation plan.
For example, if you get a bunch of $30,000 cases and you get a $10,000 legal fee, you can still set up a deferred compensation plan for yourself and defer as many of those $10,000 fees as you want. They do not have to be big.
And even if you only ever get small cases, keep in mind that a lot of those small cases add up over time. So, just remember that there is no minimum case size for you to be able to start with your deferred compensation plan. In addition, there is no setup fee for a deferred compensation plan. This makes the deferred compensation plan approach to deferring fees very popular with the attorneys we work with.
How Easy Is It to Set up a Personal, Deferred Compensation Plan?
Setting up your personal, deferred compensation plan is a very simple process. All it takes is about 30 minutes to 45 minutes to get you the paperwork and get everything set up. Once you are set up, then you can add as many cases to your deferred compensation plan as you want. You just have to follow a few steps first, but once you have done it once or twice, the process becomes very simple.
So, if you have a high volume practice where you get a lot of smaller to medium-sized cases, and you want to set up a deferred compensation plan, remember that you do not have to have a “once-in-a-lifetime giant case” to be able to defer your fees.
If you are handling small cases and want to defer your contingent fees, give us a call. Let Amicus Settlement Planners set up your plan for you, so you can start saving on your taxes and save for your retirement on a pre-tax and tax-deferred basis.
