You should expect to receive an award in the mail about 30 days after the hearing. Please don't call the local program or State Bar because the award will be sent to you automatically.

The award is the decision of the arbitrator and specifies whether you owe money to the lawyer, whether the lawyer owes money to you or whether neither of you owes any money.

After all the evidence has been presented, you and the lawyer are permitted to summarize your case. Comments during your summary should focus on why the lawyer's fees may be reasonable or unreasonable under the circumstances of your particular case. They should address only the evidence presented. 

At all times during the hearing, both sides should avoid making personal attacks, making references to anything outside the lawyer-client relationship, or discussing matters based only on speculation or assumption.

The arbitrator may ask questions at any time. Sometimes the arbitrator will ask questions while you or the lawyer are presenting your case if clarification is needed.

The arbitrator has the authority to decide how the arbitration hearing should proceed. You may be asked to present your case first. You will be allowed to discuss the fee agreement and the reasons why you dispute the lawyer's fees. You may also introduce relevant documents, such as written fee agreements and copies of the lawyer's bills. Your presentation should be simple, factual, and directly related to the issue of lawyer's fees. Usually, this is also the time when you would present any witnesses to help prove your case. 

After you have fully presented your case, the lawyer will have a chance to ask you questions. 

The lawyer may also make their presentation and present any witnesses. You will have an opportunity to ask relevant questions after the lawyer has fully presented their case. To avoid interrupting the lawyer's presentation, you may want to take notes so that you can remember any points with which you disagree.

The arbitration hearing is typically informal, although evidence is usually taken under oath. Arbitration hearings may be held in a conference room in the arbitrator's office or at the bar association. Generally, only the arbitrator, you, the lawyer, and maybe witnesses will be in the room. You do not need to be represented by a lawyer. However, you may choose to have a lawyer represent you if you wish.

You should check the program rules to see if nonparties and nonwitnesses may attend with you and, if so, whether that person may speak on your behalf. If allowed, that person will be bound by the same rules of confidentiality as everyone else.

You should think carefully about why you believe the lawyer's fees are too high and focus your presentation on specific reasons for this belief. For example, if you think the lawyer charged more for telephone calls than the fee agreement allowed, you should be prepared to refer to the clause in the agreement that was violated. If you believe the lawyer did not effectively provide services, you should refer to specific examples that show how the lawyer failed to do what was promised. You may want to put your arguments and reasons in writing to refer to at the hearing to be sure that you do not leave out any important points.

First, you should decide whether the witnesses have important information related directly to your fee dispute with the lawyer. For example, if the witness was with you when you and the lawyer made or changed your agreement, then the witness may have important information relevant to your fee dispute, and you might want to have that person available to testify at the hearing. You should tell the arbitrator and the attorney whose fees you are disputing that you expect to call witnesses and arrange your presentation so that the witnesses can be easily included. 

If you have an important witness who does not want to come to the hearing, you may be able to order that person to attend with a subpoena. You should contact the administrator of the fee arbitration program to find out how this is done. You should also contact the administrator if you have any problems scheduling a witness. While it is always better to bring witnesses to the hearing, you may present their testimony and evidence in writing instead. It is up to the arbitrator to decide how much weight to give a witness's testimony.

You may want to consider submitting any letter or documents that may support your claim. These include but are not limited to the lawyer’s billing statement, evidence of payments to the lawyer (e.g., copies of void checks), and any written fee agreements. Any other letters or documents that support your claim. You should have your documents organized in the order in which you plan to present them. Putting them in order by date is one common way to do this. You should also plan to have additional copies of the documents you intend to present so that you can give the copies to the arbitrator and the attorney whose fees you are disputing.