Overview of Legal Services and Fees
LEGAL FEES. Depending on the work, Montague Law bills either on a traditional hourly basis or, whenever possible, on a fixed fee basis or other alternative fee structure. Fixed fees (set fees that are quoted in advance) allow our clients to budget their legal expenses and know better what they are getting into. (Our standard flat fees for some common trademark and copyright services are laid out in our Trademark Services and Copyright Services pages.) Hourly fees are sometimes necessary when the project is open-ended and unpredictable, like litigation and other disputes that can vary greatly due to factors beyond our control. Even in those kinds of situations, however, we can often break down the work into phases or sub-projects and quote a flat fee in advance. At the end of the day, we want to be flexible and creative in how we charge for our services so that our clients are as comfortable as possible.
We also offer initial consultations (up to a half hour) to discuss general legal principles and answer general legal questions, as well as how we might be able to help with your legal needs. The cost of an initial consultation is $175, payable in advance. If you later retain our services for the matters discussed in the consultation, we will credit your $175 payment to your first legal bill.
Our normal hourly fees are as follows:
Will Montague – $450/hour
David McClure – $450/hour
Laurie Daugherty – $450/hour
In certain limited circumstances, we also offer discounted hourly rates for unfunded, pre-revenue startup companies and entrepreneurs. If you’re interested in learning more, please just ask.
ACCEPTED FORMS OF PAYMENT. We currently accept payment by check, credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express) and various online payment platforms such as PayPal. To pay a bill or retainer deposit by credit card, please visit our LawPay secure online payment page here.
LEGAL SERVICES. We offer legal services in practice areas related to business and technology, including:
- contract preparation and negotiation
- commercial transactions
- business organizations
- intellectual property advice, protection, and licensing
- intellectual property infringement and ownership disputes
- business and commercial disputes
- trademarks, service marks, and trade dress
- patent applications and prosecution
- FDA regulatory counsel
- biotechnology, bioinformatics, and other life sciences law
- copyrights and the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
- trade secrets and nondisclosure agreements
- online privacy and cybersecurity
- privacy and publicity rights
- unfair competition and advertising law
- entertainment law (independent films, music, and publishing)
- software development and protection
- internet commerce and online business transactions
- internet contracts and negotiations
- domain name rights, including cybersquatting claims and UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy) proceedings
- visual arts and graphic design
- virtual currencies, including Bitcoin and alt-currencies
- defense of BSA and SIIA software audits
- technology licensing and litigation
- tech transfer from universities and government funded entities
- video game development and marketing
- social media and marketing
- open source software