Working With Hepworth Holzer

Hepworth Holzer is a trial firm.  Our lawyers have worked pretrial and in courtrooms alongside lawyers from across the country and throughout the state.  Some refer clients to us outright. Many others want to stay involved as co-counsel.

Both arrangements work, and both start the same way: a conversation with no cost or obligation.

There is no greater compliment than a peer trusting us with their client. We don’t take that lightly. And we make sure we stay focused on our goal which is to make it easy for you to add substantial trial experience and resources to your client’s case to help you take care of them.

A Collaborative Approach To Association

We find strong interesting cases often come from attorneys who have a good relationship with their client but need a firm with the trial depth, resources, or Idaho-specific experience to take the matter forward. Association doesn’t mean stepping aside.  It means your client gets a dedicated trial firm behind them while you remain part of the team. We agree on roles and responsibilities upfront, and you remain as in the loop as you want on strategy and progress throughout.

Attorneys work with us for a range of reasons: they are experienced in another area of law and want PI expertise for their client, they have a case too resource-intensive for a solo or small firm to carry, an out-of-state lawyer needs Idaho counsel, the attorney is early in developing their skills in the PI arena and want the opportunity to learn while benefiting their client, or simply the lawyer realizes the matter calls for experienced trial attorneys.

Whatever the situation, we approach every association as a partnership.

Cases We Handle

We focus on serious injury and death cases and regularly associate on catastrophic personal injury cases.  This includes those involving traumatic brain and spinal-cord injuries, wrongful death, trucking and serious vehicle collisions, product liability, and complex torts including medical malpractice and claims against health-care providers and institutions.

These types of case are factually demanding, and often expert-intensive. They’re also exactly the cases we’ve spent our careers building the capacity to handle well.

If you’re not sure whether your case fits, reach out anyway — we’ll give you an honest assessment. And at a minimum can give you some advice or guidance to help you help your client.

Your Client Stays Your Client

We say this plainly because it’s a fair concern: we do not want take your client or your case away from you. We want to work with you.

Your relationship with your client is important. Our role is to add trial experience and resources to the team.  It is not to displace you. It is to work with you.  That’s one reason there are attorneys across Idaho who have associated with us multiple times.

What Referred Clients Receive

Every client we take gets direct access to their attorneys.  They also get straight talk about the real strengths and weaknesses of their case, along with appropriately aggressive, experienced representation from a firm that actually tries cases. We have a long record of success in Idaho courts. Our attorneys regularly teach seminars and law school courses on PI and trial law.

How Fees Work

All of our injury and malpractice cases are handled on contingency: no fee unless there’s a recovery. Associating with our firm does not increase what your client pays. A fee division is a single contingency fee shared between the firms — the client is not charged twice.

Getting Started: Free Screening and Consultation

There is no cost to explore a case with us.  Give us a call or drop an email.  We will screen the matter promptly, give you our honest assessment, and discuss how we might work together. That includes the proposed division of responsibility and fees. Screening and consultation are always free and carry no obligation. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you.

We Follow The Idaho Rules of Professional Conduct

Idaho Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5(e) governs fee divisions between lawyers not in the same firm. For attorneys who have not structured an association before, it’s worth understanding exactly how this works — the rule permits a division only when three conditions are met:

1. Proportion of responsibility. A fee division must be in proportion to the services each lawyer performs, or each lawyer must assume joint responsibility for the representation. In practice, most of our associations are structured on a joint-responsibility basis, meaning both firms are responsible for the matter as though the lawyers were partners. We do recognize that one aspect of representation properly acknowledged in an agreement is obtaining the client in the first place.
2. Client agreement, confirmed in writing. The client must agree to the arrangement and with confirmation in writing.  We handle this documentation. You will not be left to figure out the paperwork.
3. A reasonable total fee. The total fee charged to the client must be reasonable under Rule 1.5(a). Because these are contingency matters, the fee agreement must also satisfy Rule 1.5(c). That rule requires the retention be in a writing signed by the client and specify the percentages that apply at settlement, trial, and on appeal, as well as how litigation costs are handled.

We address all of this at the outset so that the division of fees, responsibilities, and client expectations are documented and clear for everyone. If you have questions about how a particular arrangement would be structured, let’s talk.  We do this regularly and are glad to walk through it.

Let’s Talk

There is no cost to you or your client to have the conversation.

Start the conversation

Call, email or fill out the form below to discuss a case.

Screening and consultation are always free, confidential, and carry no obligation.

Hepworth Holzer

537 W Bannock St., Boise, ID 83702

Phone: 208-343-7540
Email: help@hepworthholzer.com
Web: hepworthholzer.com