Avery & Avery Fee Structure and Engagement Models

A premier Bergen County trial firm should be willing to tell you what its work costs before you sign an engagement letter. The page below sets out how Avery & Avery, Esqs. structures fees, by practice area, with no surprises.

We hold three commitments at intake:

1. The first consultation is free. No initial-meeting fee, no “intake assessment” charge — call (201) 943-2445 and we read your matter without a billing clock.
2. The engagement letter says exactly what we said at consultation. No buried hourly conversions on flat-fee matters, no aggressive collection language for written-down balances.
3. Most criminal and family matters work on flat or hybrid fees. Personal injury is contingency. Estate planning is flat. There are very few hourly engagements at Avery & Avery, by design.

Free First Consultation

Every prospective client gets a free first consultation — by phone at (201) 943-2445 or in person at our 559 Bergen Boulevard Ridgefield office. The consultation is a substantive lawyer-to-prospective-client conversation, not a sales pitch. We will read your complaint or accident report, walk through likely exposure, name the statutes that govern, and tell you whether your matter is one we should take. If we are not the right firm, we will tell you who in North NJ is.

Criminal Defense and DWI — Flat or Hybrid Fees

For criminal defense and DWI / DUI matters, the standard engagement is a flat fee or a flat-fee + hourly hybrid, quoted at consultation based on:

• The court (Municipal vs. Superior; some Municipal Courts plea-negotiate faster than others)
• The charge (DP / petty DP / indictable, and the specific statute)
• The expected workload (motions, discovery, witnesses, expert reports)
• Trial vs. plea posture

A first-offense DWI flat fee in NJ Municipal Court is one of the most predictable engagements in the firm. Multi-offense DWI, refusal matters, and indictable criminal charges run higher because Alcotest foundation challenges, Superior Court motion practice, and expert-witness coordination all add work.

Traffic Violations — Flat Fee per Ticket

For traffic violations — speeding, careless driving, reckless driving, suspended-license — the standard engagement is a flat fee per ticket, quoted at consultation. Multiple-ticket matters (e.g., a stop that produced both a speeding ticket and a careless-driving citation) consolidate into a single flat fee where the court permits.

CDL-holder traffic matters carry a higher flat fee because federal CDL disqualification stakes require deeper plea negotiation and more careful charge bargaining than a non-CDL ticket.

Family Law — Hybrid Engagement

Family Law matters — divorce, custody, support, alimony, domestic violence — almost always run on a hybrid engagement: an initial retainer drawn against an hourly rate, with phased fee estimates set at each litigation stage (pleadings, discovery, case management, mediation, trial).

Some family matters can be quoted as flat fees:

• Uncontested divorce with no minor children and no contested property division
• TRO / FRO defense at the temporary stage
• Document preparation (separation agreements, custody stipulations)

Contested matrimonial matters with property division, custody disputes, or contested alimony run on a true hourly retainer.

Personal Injury — Contingency (No Fee Unless We Recover)

Personal injury matters — auto, premises liability, wrongful death — work on a contingency-fee engagement. Avery & Avery does not charge a fee unless we recover on your behalf.

NJ Court Rule R. 1:21-7 sets the maximum contingency fee schedule for personal injury matters. Our standard contingency fee is set within that schedule and is disclosed in the engagement letter. Where the matter resolves at policy limits or otherwise without trial, the fee follows the standard NJ contingency convention. Where the matter requires arbitration or trial, a higher contingency tier may apply (also disclosed in writing).

There is no consultation fee, no investigation fee, and no case-evaluation fee. Costs (deposition transcripts, expert reports, filing fees, medical-record retrieval) are typically advanced by the firm and reimbursed from any recovery. If there is no recovery, in most matters there is no cost owed.

Landlord-Tenant — Flat Fee per Action

Landlord-tenant matters generally run on flat fees per action:

• Eviction filings on the landlord side
• Eviction defense on the tenant side
• Security-deposit recovery actions (often with N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 treble-damage exposure for the landlord)
• Lease dispute documentation and pre-litigation negotiation

Estate Planning — Flat Document Fees

Estate planning work — wills, powers of attorney, advance directives, simple revocable trusts — runs on flat fees set at engagement. Probate / executor administration runs on hourly engagements where contested, and on flat fees where the estate is uncontested and the work is administrative.

Municipal Court Practice — Flat Fees

Municipal court matters — DWI, traffic, DP — generally run on flat fees. Where a matter spans multiple municipal courts (a stop that crosses a county line, a defendant charged in two adjoining municipalities) we coordinate the engagement to a single flat fee where the work permits.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Call (201) 943-2445 or submit your matter through the consultation form. We respond same business day.