False Allegation Flat Fee - Cowling Investigations, Inc.

If we are representing a client who has been accused and that client expects that our involvement will be lengthy and detailed and that their potential fees would be considerable, we will agree to contract with the client for a one-time fee that assures our complete involvement throughout the entire case, however, it is strictly up to the client and/or their attorney as to how little or how much we are involved.

Serious cases can easily last from 2 to 4 years and sometimes more. Assisting clients in those cases for that amount of time, at our standard hourly rate, would prove to be astronomical, not to mention that most clients would reach a financial point where they would be unable to continue. The flat fee assures our involvement until the completion of a case. When working at standard hourly rates, the client is billed for all time we apply to a case including, but not limited to, emails and telephone calls, with a minimum billing of .25 hour per incident, or $43.75. Obviously, all time applied is covered under the flat fee. On some prior cases, after we were retained to complete an initial assessment, some clients believed there would be no charge for future involvement, such as emails and telephone calls. Our rate page clearly states that the charges for a trip and assessment cover only that trip and that assessment. Simply put, the flat fee can save a client many thousands of dollars over a period of time and it guarantees our involvement in their case until completion, regardless of the time required. Obviously, in any case our desire is to work toward stopping criminal charges or hopefully having the State dismiss a case prior to trial, but if neither happens, then the client must be prepared to present a defense that leads to acquittal. In that no one can ever predict what a jury may or may not do, if there is a conviction, obviously we are sitting there and have an understanding of what caused it and we then work in an effort to have the client's conviction reversed and prepare for a new trial. In addition, a client needs to be aware of and prepared to fight civil suits as well. We assist in all of this.

The idea of the flat fee is simply to save money for a client over an extended period of time and to allow them to complete their entire case without concern that their funds would be exhausted, preventing them from reaching the end. Obviously, our desire is to extend this offer to clients that we have worked with and clients that we have established a relationship with simply because of the amount of time that we are obligating ourselves to. This arrangement has proven to be very beneficial to most every client who selected it as an alternative to our normal billing rates, and the success that we have had has been based strictly on the relationship that I have had with that client and our ability to communicate and work together. Unfortunately, and thankfully very rarely, we encounter someone who begins with the best intentions but, for whatever reason, they go off on their own leaving us completely in the dark, then later, either they expect us to correct their mistakes or refund their money. When a client ignores us, ignores our advice or excludes us, that voids our obligation and our flat fee agreement with them ends. Any client who accepted the flat fee arrangement with us fully understood that there would be no refunds regardless of the reason.

Under the flat fee arrangement, the client pays a one-time fee that covers our time only. It does not cover our expenses. The client is responsible for paying all necessary expenses until the completion of the case. Failure by the client to pay expenses within 10-days of billing voids the agreement. In addition, the client agrees that during the course of our relationship, if they fail to communicate with me, fail to listen to my advice, or fail to include me in their effort because they know that what they are attempting would go against my advice, then they understand and acknowledge that the entire agreement between us, specific to this flat fee arrangement is void and the client fully understands that there will be no refund of any monies paid to Allen N. Cowling or Cowling Investigations, Inc.. When a client requests the flat fee, nothing they may have paid prior to that request will apply to the flat fee. If a client believes that the flat fee would be in their best interest, the entire fee is payable in one payment. We do not accept payments and we do not finance.

Obviously, when beginning any case, our initial plan and desire is to develop a strategy that will prevent criminal charges from ever being filed if they have not already been filed. If criminal charges have been filed, or if they are later filed, our involvement can include:

Analysis of all case documents, discovery and all other material, something critical in preparing a proper defense for any client, be it civil or criminal.
Initial trial preparation and preparing a proper defense strategy.
Client evaluations. Working closely with clients who go through any type testing, be it psychological, psycho/sexual or polygraph examinations and then determining the best method of using those results in the client's overall defense.
Preparing the client for trial and for their testimony. For a detailed explanation of how I work with a client, preparing them to testify, see The Falsely Accused and Winning at Trial. Without question, this is one of the most critial areas in defense preparation.
Assessing the client's legal representation and assuring that their attorney is proper and adequate to handle their defense. Most everyone who has been convicted and is in prison today had an attorney. Every client needs to assure that their attorney is serving their best interest "before" they walk into a courtroom to pick a jury.
Assisting in finding a proper attorney if the client needs one. For an explanation of what I look for in a proper attorney, see Defending False Allegation Cases, Selecting the Proper Attorney, and the additional pages linked to that page. Over the last 20 years I have developed a very successful strategy for finding and selecting the right attorney. Unfortunately, some people never found out that their attorney was not capable of defending them properly until they were actually picking a jury at their trial and that certainly was not in their best interest.
Assisting in identifying and locating defense experts as necessary.
Assisting at trial, or trials, if there is more than one. For a detailed explanation of what we do at trial, see How I Assist During Trial.
Assisting with post conviction relief if there is a conviction. For a detailed explanation of how I assist in attempting to reverse a conviction, see Our Step by Step Procedure in Reversing Convictions.
Preparation for a new trial if the conviction is reversed.
Assisting clients, usually fathers, who have been falsely accused of abusing their own children. Many of these cases are the result of one parent attempting to use allegations of abuse against the other in order to gain the upper hand in a custody battle. These cases can easily go on for years and there is an art to dealing with them and avoiding criminal charges. These cases usually take a great deal of work and over an extended period of time. As one example, I worked one case with a client for more than 11 years. We stopped all criminal charges, he was awarded custody of his daughters, his ex-wife was ordered to pay him child support and all visitations she had with their children were supervised. His celebration was well earned, but short lived. His ex-wife continued accusing him, harassing him and taking him back to court whenever she could. We had no choice but to spend whatever time was necessary to stay a step ahead of her. To read this client's case history, see Success Story. Now, in some cases, no matter what you do, you can still end up facing criminal charges. As a perfect example, see But I Had the Best Criminal Attorney in the State - What Happened? Thankfully, this client was acquitted of 3 felony charges where he was facing a possible 60 years. Unfortunately, some fathers who have been accused in these cases do not see any real danger and they believe that they can easily handle things themselves. Some make it through the initial stages fine, get lulled into a false sense of security and then find themselves facing very serious criminal charges several years later. For an explanation of how I assist with custody cases, see The Father and Child Custody in False Allegation Cases. Here, I have continuously used the word "father," however, these cases can also easily apply to mothers as well. One of my best clients was a mother we successfully worked with for more than 2 years in our efforts to stop her ex-husband from having non-supervised visits with their children. Obviously, when we are working a lengthy custody case for a father or mother, where allegations of abuse have been made, our primary goal is to attempt and avoid criminal charges, but in cases where that is just not possible, then preparing a proper defense to avoid conviction becomes critical. For our role at that point, please see Our Expertise.
Assisting the client with any civil suits that may be filed against them by the accuser or their family and that happens far more frequently than people imagine.

Our flat fee will only be considered in serious and potential lengthy cases and only for those clients that we have established a relationship with and have the ability to work closely with. Clients facing multiple charges, possibly in multiple locations, know they have a serious problem. They know that in order to survive, they need to apply themselves in preparing a proper defense and they realize that there will be a great deal of time and effort applied to their case. These clients are dealing with reality and not lost in a false sense of security.

I will not consider the flat fee option for any client where it exhausts their financial resources, a client with a "Wait and See" attitude or a client that I have not established a good working and personal relationship with. I have no desire to commit myself or possibly years of my time to a client who is not working closely with me as we go through their case. In addition, a wait and see attitude usually means that the client is looking for short cuts or they are expecting a simple and immediate solution to their problem. Usually these clients do not even attempt to make a decision to defend properly until their case becomes completely out of control, which makes everyone's work much more time consuming and difficult.

Under no circumstances will the flat fee be considered for new clients for the following reasons:

Many believe that the charges against them will be dropped before trial.
Some tend to believe their case will be resolved quickly.
Some are not concerned because they know they are innocent and have done nothing wrong.
Some think justice will honestly prevail.
Some want to wait and see if the expenditure is really necessary. Many find that the cost of attempting to reverse a conviction, the approximate 2 years they will remain in prison waiting for the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court to reverse their conviction, and then going right back to trial again and facing a possible second conviction, can be far more costly than if they had done things correctly the first time.
Some are in a panic, not thinking rationally and grasping at straws. Many of these people are simply incapable of making a decision that is really in their overall best interest.
Most have no idea what is ahead of them, nor the work that will be involved.
Most have no idea what it takes to prepare a proper defense.
Some do not take the allegations against them seriously until they are convicted.
Some have no idea that the accuser can actually file a civil suit against them and collect damages. Think about the O.J. Simpson case. He was found not guilty in his criminal trial, but lost millions in the civil suit filed against him. This seems to be something attorneys do not tell their clients. I have a client who was facing 13 felony charges of child sexual abuse based on allegations made against him by his daughter and her friend. One month prior to trial, the State dismissed all charges against my client. His daughter then filed a civil suit against him. No one was concerned because all the criminal charges had been dismissed, so the client simply "handled" things on his own with his civil attorney. The jury awarded the daughter 1.7 million dollars. We are now involved in trying to have that verdict set aside. The reality is, there was absolute proof that the allegations that had been made against my client were false and that evidence was never presented to his civil jury.

When a client agrees to the flat fee, there will be no refunds under any circumstances and the client knows, understands and acknowledges this by entering ino the flat fee agreement. Previously, I have been asked, "Suppose the case ends in 3 months, do I get a refund?" That is the same as my asking the client, "If the case continues past a year, will you pay me more?" The flat fee assures our continued involvement until the end of the case, as long as the client has paid expenses in a timely manner and they have not intentionally excluded us from their case. The least amount of time that we have been involved in a flat fee case was just a little more than 2 years. The longest case we accepted under this arrangement lasted a little over 12 years.

This webpage serves as the contract agreement between Cowling Investigations, Inc., and the client when a client accepts the flat fee option, as it clearly details obligations for all parties involved. No one should consider the flat fee arrangement unless they fully understand how it will be beneficial to them, what they will receive from it, what their and our responsibilities are and that regardless of the amount of time that is put into a case, there will be no refunds under any circumstances for any reason.

In a prior case, I worked closely with a client who was facing very serious allegations and, over a period of time, I had billed that client a tremendous amount of money. I reached a point where the overall amount he had paid began to concern me. My client told me he was a professional, he did not discount charges for his patients and he did not expect me to discount my services. Since I was having a problem, he asked, "My trial is supposed to take place next March, 3 months away, or at the very latest, June." "Suppose we agree on a flat fee that covers me until the end of trial, would that be acceptable?" I agreed. His case actually went on for 2 more years, so in reality, he saved a great deal of money over that period of time.

In another case, I did an initial assessment and worked with the client through an evaluation. That should have been all that was necessary. That client was going through a custody battle, allegations had been made, but no criminal charges had been filed. Approximately 6 months later, he became involved with social services and the police, but still no charges were filed and I assisted him for a second time. In another 6 months, criminal charges were filed. After criminal charges were filed, I met with the client and his father. His father stated, "That makes 3 times you have come in, put the case together, had everything in perfect order and each time the attorney dropped the ball." "We want you in the case until the end." I agreed, we found a new criminal attorney and, thank God, a jury acquitted my client of all charges. He was facing 3 counts and possibly 60 years. His overall case went on for 4 years, which also included continuing with the custody matter after he was acquitted of criminal charges.

Simply put, the flat fee has saved prior clients thousands of dollars during their overall case, however, as I have stated, this arrangement is not for everyone. Obviously, we would not want to agree to commit ourselves to years of work with a client who had all the answers themselves, a client who would not listen or a client that we did not have a good workable relationship with. The fee is not something we "sell." If a client believes this to be in their best interest, they can discuss it with Brenda, my office manager. There is nothing more enjoyable than working with a client who was facing what appeared to be impossible odds and giving them their life back. That is not a simple task, nor is it done overnight. As I have stated previously, the flat fee is not for everyone and we will be happy to continue to assist those who are not eligible, or simply do not need the flat fee, at standard company rates.