We have a flexible billing system.

For litigation cases whose duration is unpredictable so that the

time involvement of every lawyer cannot be calculated with
reasonable certainty, we charge an acceptance fee first, then bill
by the hour. Acceptance fee for litigation cases starts at
US$4,000.00. Hourly billing is US$75.00.
For legal opinions and research not covered by a retainership
agreement, we charge a flat rate of US$ 200.00 for each subject
matter instead of an hourly billing. The coverage of the research
includes one main subject matter and its related or incidental
topics, exceptions and qualifications. Multiple questions on
unrelated subject matters or ones bearing only tenuous
connection or relation with one another shall be treated as
different subject matters and charged separately. The Firm gives
the client wide leeway on questions and is inclined to resolve all
doubt in the treatment of related subject matters in favor of the
client.
For services covered by a retainership agreement, we change a
monthly retainer’s fee of US$1,000.00.
For special projects, such as incorporation, registration and
licensing, we bill by the package subject to mutual agreement.

Retainership Agreement

Gentlemen:
We are pleased to submit to you herewith the following proposal for
a legal retainership arrangement with your company.
Retainer Fee. The proposed monthly retainer is U.S.$1,000.00,
payable in the first week of each month, which amount is subject to
adjustment upon mutual agreement, as work experience between
us develops.
Date of Effectivity. We propose that the retainer arrangement take
effect upon payment of the first retainers fee of U.S.$1,000.00. It
shall be subject to termination upon 60 days’ written notice given by
either party to the other.
Scope of Retainer Services and Hence NOT Subject to
Additional Billing. The services which will be covered by the
retainer arrangement, which will not be subject to additional billing,
include the following:
Consultations, advice, and the giving of opinion on all fields of law
affecting your company’s business, such as general commercial
law, corporation law, and labor law but excluding tax law.
 Supply of full text of laws, Supreme Court decisions,
administrative rules and regulations, Presidential issuances, upon
specific request;
Regular corporate services, including the services of a Corporate
Secretary;
Maintenance of a Stock and Transfer Book;
Labor relations;
Conveyancing;
Drafting and review of your company’s routine and ordinary
agreements and other documents which are used in the ordinary
course of your business, but excluding those requiring extensive
negotiations or documentation
Representations (other than proceedings) before and routine
verifications with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the
Board of Investments, and other national and local government
offices and agencies within the Metro Manila;
Notarial services.
Services excluded from the monthly retainer fee and which are
subject to special billings; all terms to be mutually agreed upon as a
general rule prior to commencement of the work.
Assistance in special projects of your company, such as
transactions which require extensive negotiations and
documentation, written opinions which require several days’
extraordinary research and studies, and administrative
proceedings.
Litigation work of all kinds;
Intellectual property matters, including patents, trademarks and
copyright;
Shipping/maritime problems; and
Tax and related problems.
In determining special billings for any of the above services, the
primary basis is our time involvement, plus a reasonable
responsibility premium, taking into account such factors as the
difficulty and importance of the work, the novelty of the legal issues
involved, and other relevant factors. However, we will at all times
take into consideration the retainer relationship in billing you for
services falling outside the scope of the regular retainer
arrangement. Thus, where the demand by your company of the
services covered by the retainer agreement during any given period
has not been extensive, credit will be extended to you in the form of
a reduction of the amount which would otherwise be billed to you
for the services described above.
Out-of-Pocket Expenses. All out-of-pocket expenses (whether in
connection with litigation or non-litigation matters) such as long
distance telephone calls, fax, telex and cable charges, document
reproduction charges, machine processing charges, hotel and
transportation expenses incurred in court appearances or other
work for your company’s filing fees, cost of stenographic notes,
printing of briefs and the like, shall be for your account. In cases
where such out-of-pocket expenses are anticipated, we would
request that a deposit for such expenses be made.
Conflict of Interest. The rules of legal ethics prevent us from
accepting engagements involving the prosecution or defense of
your interest adversary to those of another retainer of our firm,
without the consent of such latter client, where we have previously
represented such client in respect of the same set of facts or
events. Sometimes the existence of an actual or potential conflict of
interest may not be readily discernible at the time we accept a
specific engagement from a retainer client. Accordingly, we are
constrained to reserve the right to withdraw from such engagement
should such conflict of interest develop or become apparent.
Our experience is that sometimes, even outside specific conflicts of
interest areas, a retainer client might regard its general interest as
adversary to those of another client of our firm. In such situation,
we would, as a general policy, address the feasibility of specific
engagements on a case-to-case basis.
In commercial and financial matters, our experience has been that,
where the parties have previously or independently (i.e., without
our involvement) arrived at an understanding on the basic
economic terms of their relationship, such parties have often been
willing to commission our firm as "transaction counsel". By
transaction counsel, we mean counsel whose principal task is to
craft the documents which will embody the terms, conditions and
substance of the agreements reached by the parties. Clearly, this
type of engagement also needs to be approached on a case-to
case basis.
The undersigned will be the overall Partner-In-charge of your
account. You may at all times contact him directly regarding any
matter enumerated above.
We very much appreciate your considering our firm as retained
counsel.
If you find the above retainer proposal acceptable, please sign on
the appropriate space below and return to us one signed copy
hereof.