I am a lawyer who is representing a client and it is clear to me that my fee arrangement is inadequate. Can I change the fee agreement during the middle of the representation?

There are really two components to this question. The first component is the ethical component set forth in Rule 1.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The second component is basic contract law. Generally, an agreement is binding and cannot be changed unless there is some additional consideration. A bad agreement normally can’t be changed if it was agreed to without any fraud or misrepresentation, particularly when the party is a sophisticated person, such as a lawyer. But the essence of this column is not contractual law, but legal ethics.

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