Washington Governor’s COVID-19 Order Restricts HOA Late Fees (but not Fines)

This Service Engagement Agreement represents the terms by which Lucent Law, PLLC, a Washington professional limited liability company (“Firm”, “we” or “us”), will provide legal services to you and the scope of services that we will render, as well as the manner of billing and collecting legal fees and costs and other aspects of the proposed representation. We will sometimes refer to you as “you,” “your” or “Client”.

You have agreed to be bound by the terms of this Service Engagement Agreement by checking the box labeled “I’ve read and accept the Service Engagement Agreement,” on the webpages https://lucentlaw.com/checkout, https://lucentlaw.com/essentiallaw-estate-planning-package-individual-payment-page/, and any other page with a payment form, button, or link (part of the Website defined below) and then clicking or otherwise pressing the “Place Order” or “Pay” button on that webpage.

Identification of Client

We will represent the individual acknowledging this agreement unless you notify us that you have engaged the Firm on behalf of a separate legal entity, such as a corporation or limited liability company. If you have so notified us, then the terms “you,” “your” and “Client” in this agreement will refer to the separate legal entity, unless the context clearly requires “you” or “your” to refer to the individual acting on behalf of such entity.

Services to be Provided

We have been engaged to provide on your behalf the services you have ordered from the Firm through its EssentialLawSM platform, located at https://lucentlaw.com/essentiallaw (the “Website”). We refer to each service that you purchase from EssentialLaw as a “Service.” The scope of work for the Service or Services that we will perform is described in the service description for each Service that you ordered (“Scope of Work”) on the individual product page of the Website for each Service. The bullet point description of a Service that may be found on another page of the Website is for general informational purposes only, and is not part of the Scope of Work for that Service.

For this Service, the Scope of Work is found at https://essentiallaw.lucentlaw.com/s/productdetails?pid=a3R1R000007k9YP

We only want to provide services that we believe are beneficial to our clients. Therefore, the Firm reserves the right to decline representation of you or to terminate its representation of you as to any Service you have ordered through the Website if we determine, in our sole discretion, that the Service is inappropriate for your circumstances or intended use. If we make such a determination, we will notify you by email or U.S. Postal Service that we are terminating the representation. If, at the time we terminate the representation as to a Service, we have already received payment for the Service, we will refund your payment in full, and if we have not yet received payment, we will cancel the credit card transaction and provide you a record of the cancellation. While we are not obligated to do so, at the time of termination, we may suggest another Service through the Website that we believe is more appropriate for your circumstances or intended use, or we may offer to undertake representation of you on an hourly fee basis or other billing basis under a separate engagement agreement.

The Firm employs attorneys licensed in the State of Washington to perform work on your matter. We also employ or may employ legal assistants, clerks and interns, who may also work on this matter. You acknowledge that as of the date of this agreement, Lucent Law only provides through the Website Services that involve the application of Washington law.

Fixed Fee

By ordering a Service, you have agreed to pay the Firm a fixed fee for such Service as described on the Website. The Firm will not perform any work with regard to a Service (with the exception of checking for any potential or actual conflicts of interest) until the fixed fee for the Service is paid in full by you.

The fixed fee for a Service is fully earned by the Firm at the time of payment and the funds that you pay for the Service belong to the Firm and will not be deposited in the Firm’s trust account. You are entitled to a refund only in the event that the Firm does not perform the Scope of Work for a Service and the Firm’s failure to perform the Scope of Work is not caused by your failure to cooperate with the Firm.

The fixed fee for a Service does not include any out-of-pocket expenses that may be required in the performance of the Scope of Work by the Firm, such as filing fees, recording fees, and the like (“Out of Pocket Costs”). You agree to pay Out of Pocket Costs to the Firm either at the time you order the Service or upon receipt of an invoice from the Firm for such Out of Pocket Costs. When the Out of Pocket Costs are known in advance, the Firm will normally collect payment for them at the time payment is made for the Service. The Firm’s overhead expenses, such as labor, rent, equipment costs, subscriptions, and consumables (e.g., paper, toner) are not Out of Pocket Costs for purposes of this Agreement. We will not charge you for postage costs at standard U.S. Postal Service First Class rates that we incur in performing the Scope of Work. If you request expedited U.S. Postal Service shipping or delivery by a commercial delivery service (e.g., FedEx, UPS, DHL), you agree to pay us the cost of such shipping or delivery.

The Firm is not obligated to perform any work outside of the Scope of Work. If you request that the Firm perform work outside of the Scope of Work, the Firm may require that you execute a separate written agreement prior to undertaking such work. As part of that separate written agreement, the Firm may require that you guaranty payment by making an advance fee deposit into the Firm’s trust account or preauthorizing credit card billing.

Hourly Rate Work

You acknowledge that if you ask us to perform work that is beyond the Scope of Work for a Service, then you will be obligated to pay us for such additional work on an hourly basis, as described herein, unless we agree in writing to some other billing arrangement.

For legal services that the Firm performs that are not part of a fixed fee Service, you agree to pay to the Firm payment for such legal services according to an Hourly Rate Basis according to the following schedule (the “Standard Hourly Rate Schedule”):

Attorneys: $295.00 (partner)/$250.00 (associate) per hour

Paralegals: $145.00 per hour

Assistants/Legal Clerks: $85.00 per hour

If the Scope of Work for a Service states that you are entitled to an attorney consult at a discounted rate (a “Discounted Consult”), then we will perform such Discounted Consult at the stated discount from the Firm’s Standard Hourly Rate Schedule for the number of minutes described for such Discounted Consult within the Scope of Work.

The Firm is under no obligation to inform you if the work to be performed by us will exceed the minutes specified for a particular Discounted Consult. If the work performed by us exceeds the minutes specified for a Discounted Consult, you will be obligated to pay us for such additional time based upon the Standard Hourly Rate Schedule.

Hourly Rate Work Billing Policies

The following policies apply to our Hourly Rate Work and are made a part of this agreement:

A. For Hourly Rate Work, we bill on a 1/10 hour basis, subject to a 2/10 hour minimum charge per activity, including for telephone calls and correspondence (whether by email or by written letter).

B. We may incur various expenses in providing Hourly Rate Work. You agree to pay all such expenses and to reimburse the Firm for all out-of-pocket expenses that we pay on your behalf. Whenever possible, we will forward bills for any expenses incurred on your behalf directly to you and you agree to make prompt payment directly to the originator of these bills. These expenses include, but are not limited to: filing fees; recording fees; postage; expedited delivery fees; electronic research fees; expert witness fees; court reporter fees; and any other costs or out-of-pocket expenses not in the nature of payment for the Firm’s professional legal services, including copies or printed pages (Client agrees to pay for black and white copies/printed pages in excess of 50 per month at the rate of $.05 per page and $.35 for each color copy or printed page.) In addition, you agree to pay to the Firm the sum of $.585 per mile for mileage incurred in the course of performing legal services for you.

Deposits

At the Firm’s sole discretion, we may require that you pay us an initial advance fee deposit (the “Advance Fee Deposit”) prior to us beginning Hourly Rate Work or, if we have started to perform Hourly Rate Work, continuing to perform Hourly Rate Work, in order to secure the payment of fees and expenses incurred by you.

If no initial Advance Fee Deposit is requested, we reserve the right to require such a deposit at any time, at our discretion. We will place in the Firm’s trust account any Advance Fee Deposit you pay. You authorize the Firm to withdraw the principal from the trust account to pay the Firm’s fees as they are incurred by you, with such withdrawal to occur on or after ten (10) calendar days after the day that we deposit invoices in the mail to you or after the day that we deliver such invoices to you by online file sharing or Client Workspace (see the section titled “Online File Sharing and Client Workspace” below). If, at the termination of services under this agreement, the total amount incurred by you for the Firm’s fees and costs is less than the amount of the deposits you have paid to the Firm, the difference will be refunded to you. As a specific condition of continuing the representation of Client, we may request that you deposit additional Advance Fee Deposits in the Firm’s trust account to either replenish the initial deposit or to add to such deposit. In the event that you do not promptly satisfy such request, then we may terminate the representation described in this agreement. To the extent we have earned any fees or incurred costs on your behalf that are unpaid, we have lien rights against your funds held in our trust account under applicable state law. You acknowledge our lien rights by signing this agreement. If you have any questions regarding these lien rights, please discuss them with us before signing this agreement.

Any funds belonging to you that are deposited into the Firm’s trust account will be held in the Firm’s IOLTA account. “IOLTA” is an acronym for Interest On Lawyer Trust Accounts, indicating that the interest accruing on funds held in the account are paid to the applicable state bar association. In the event the Firm will hold unusually large sums for an extended period, the Firm may set up a separate trust account on which interest will accrue to you. The Firm will set up such a separate trust account when appropriate in its judgment, based upon the likely interest accrual on the funds held will materially exceed the cost of setting up and managing the separate trust account, including fees charged by the Firm’s banking institution as well as the fees and costs to be charged to you by the Firm’s attorneys and/or staff for time and expense related to establishing the account and performing required record keeping. Fixed fees paid to the Firm for a Service are not deposited into the Firm’s IOLTA account.

Payment Requirements

We bill on or about the 5th of the month for all work performed and expenses incurred in the previous month. Payment in full is due upon receipt. Client agrees to pay interest at the rate of Twelve Percent (12%) per annum on unpaid amounts. We may change the Standard Hourly Rate Schedule upon reasonable notice to you. We will deliver invoices to you for your review and payment through email, online file sharing or Client Workspace, as described below.

Online File Sharing and Client Workspace

We will share invoices and other documents with you through email. It is our practice to share documents through download links rather than as attachments to email messages. We prefer this method of file sharing for a variety of reasons, including improved security, version control, file management, and others. We may alternatively establish a secure online account (the Client Workspace) for you to permit two-way sharing of digital files Using either sharing method, you will receive an email message notifying you each time a file is shared with you. If we establish a Client Workspace for you, you agree to use a complex password for your Client Workspace account, which you will keep confidential. You are encouraged to “bookmark” the address of the Client Workspace in your web browser to allow you to easily return to the Client Workspace, whether or not you have a current email containing a link. Please call us if you have any questions regarding file sharing or the Client Workspace.

Our invoices will be in PDF format, and will contain a link to our payment gateway maintained by our credit card processor. You can securely pay invoices through the payment gateway by Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express, or by delivering a check or cash to us.

We will send email to the email address that you provided to us at the time of checkout for the purchase of the Service.

We will use this email address for general communication purposes, unless you wish us to send general communications to a separate email address (as described in the Communication section below). You represent that the email address you have provided us is for an email account which you do not share, and which is not an account owned by your employer (unless you have control over such employer’s email hosting account). Please know that you may inadvertently waive the attorney-client privilege by receiving email from us at an email account which you share with others or which is owned by your employer (unless the employer’s email hosting account is controlled by you).

You agree to promptly notify us if your email address has changed or if your email account is disabled.

You may access our online invoice payment link as described below:

Invoices may be paid online at https://lucentlaw.com/my-account/

We will be happy to email you links to this online payment resource upon request.

Communication

Our primary point of contact regarding this matter will be the person acknowledging this agreement. If at any time you wish us to communicate with another person as our primary point of contact, please let us know in writing and provide complete contact information.

Our policy is to use email for general communication purposes, as this saves postage expense for our clients and provides a record of communication. As described above, we will use online file sharing and/or Client Workspace for document sharing. When we need your signature on documents, we will use digital signatures (through our service provider Adobe Document Cloud) whenever possible, and we will use U.S. Mail for documents requiring your original signature or when otherwise required. If you would like to use an email address for general communication other than the one listed above, please advise us.

You consent to receive delivery of electronic newsletters and other communications from us or from an entity affiliated by ownership with us. We will never share your email address with any unaffiliated third party. You may opt out of our newsletter mailing list at any time by using the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any newsletter email.

Client Cooperation

We will perform the legal services called for under this agreement, keep you informed of progress and developments, and respond promptly to your inquiries and communications. You, in turn, agree to be truthful and cooperative with us, keep us reasonably informed of developments and of your address, telephone numbers, email addresses and general whereabouts; provide us with documents that may be needed; and timely make any payments required by this agreement.

No Promises as to Fees or Outcome

You acknowledge that the Firm has made no promises or representations regarding the total amount of the Firm’s fees and expenses to be incurred by you under this agreement or the success or failure of your claims, potential claims, defenses or potential defenses.

Your Right to Terminate Representation

You may terminate this representation at any time with or without cause by notifying us in writing of your desire to do so. Upon receipt of the notice to terminate representation, we will stop all legal work on your behalf immediately. You will be responsible for paying all legal fees and expenses incurred on your behalf in this matter before the date that written notice of termination was received by us. Please note that the fixed fee you paid for a Service is not refundable except if the Firm fails to perform the work, and such failure is not due to your lack of cooperation.

Our Right to Terminate Representation

We may terminate our representation (to the extent permitted by the ethical and court rules) at any time if you breach any material term of this agreement or fail to cooperate or follow our advice on a material matter, if conflict of interest develops or is discovered, or if there exists at any time any fact or circumstance that would, in our opinion, render our continuing representation unlawful, unethical, or otherwise inappropriate. If we elect to terminate our representation, you will take all steps reasonably necessary and will cooperate as reasonably required to free us of any further obligation to perform legal services, including the execution of any documents necessary to complete our withdrawal from representation. In such case, you agree to pay for all legal services performed and expenses incurred before the termination of our representation in accordance with the provision of this agreement. If we terminate our representation of you before completing the Scope of Work for any reason other than your breach of this agreement or failure to cooperate, we will refund the fixed fee to you, less any Out of Pocket Costs we have incurred on your behalf.

Fees and Costs of Collection

In the event that it becomes necessary for the Firm to hire an attorney to collect unpaid fees and costs incurred by you, then you agree to pay all such costs of collection, including any attorney fees and costs incurred by the Firm on appeal, if any (whether incurred by an attorney employed by the Firm or employed by a different law firm). In the event the Firm elects to file a civil action to collect unpaid fees and costs, you agree that the venue for such action will be in Spokane County, Washington.

We appreciate the opportunity to represent you in this matter. If you have questions, please feel free to contact our office at your convenience.