Ted Broomfield Law, PC maintains various addresses, each serving a specific purpose. Please use the appropriate address depending on your need.
Based on the needs of the practice, I maintain several telephone numbers. Any of these will reach me, but they serve different purposes:
The engagement agreement is the fundamental written contract that governs the attorney-client relationship. Unfortunately, the agreement is complex. The following is an outline and summary explanation to help you understand the agreement's structure and key terms.
This summary is for informational purposes only and is not part of the Agreement itself. Only the signed Agreement governs the relationship. Please read the agreement carefully — this summary does not cover everything.
The agreement is between you (the client) and Ted Broomfield Law, PC (the attorney).
Ted Broomfield agrees to help you with the specific matters identified in the agreement, and nothing else. You agree to cooperate with the representation, including preparing written discovery responses if applicable.
You will pay either an hourly rate, a contingency fee (meaning a percentage of the remedy obtained), or a flat fee — whichever one is checked in the agreement. In all cases, costs are in addition to fees. These are separate obligations.
This portion of the agreement discusses how the contract is formed and what happens in case of a dispute over the agreement itself.
This is where both parties sign in order to form the agreement.
You can terminate the representation at any time — you can fire me whenever you choose. However, if you fire me while I am working on a contingency basis — meaning I get paid as part of a remedy obtained — I am entitled to the reasonable value of my work as a lien on the proceeds of the lawsuit. In such a case, I will be paid before you. This would create a conflict of interest between you and me.
There are other complexities in the agreement. Please read it carefully and call me at (415) 483-0871 with any questions before signing.
Getting the engagement agreement signed can sometimes be time-consuming, but it doesn't have to be. There are several ways to sign — use whichever is easiest for you.
The fastest method is to e-sign electronically using my JotForm Sign service. You will receive an email from jotformsign.com with a link to review and sign the agreement. Important: this email often lands in your junk/spam folder. Please check there if you don't see it in your inbox.
If you can't find the JotForm Sign email or prefer not to search your junk folder, I can email you a PDF of the agreement. You can e-sign the PDF yourself using any method you're comfortable with (Adobe, Preview, DocuSign, etc.) and email it back to me.
If you prefer not to deal with electronic signatures at all, simply print the agreement and sign it with a pen. Once signed, you can return it any of these ways:
• Scan or photograph it and email it back to me
• Fax it to (415) 757-6163
• Mail it to 201 Spear Street, Suite 1100, San Francisco, CA 94105
You are always welcome to come to my office and sign the paper contract in person.
The point is not to let the tail wag the dog. Signing the contract can be as easy and simple as you want it to be — there is no reason to struggle with technology.
A marked-up copy of the engagement agreement is available for download below. The document is annotated with handwritten notes to show you exactly what needs to be completed:
• Red ink — these are the places where you (the client) need to take action: sign, initial, or print/type the requested information.
• Blue ink — these are notes and sections that the attorney will complete.
Yellow highlighted areas indicate sections that the attorney will fill in before sending you the final agreement for signature.
Download Marked-Up Signing Guide (PDF)I accept personal checks, business checks, credit card convenience checks, or wire transfers.
Checks may be mailed to any of the following addresses:
A deposit is a payment made in advance to ensure that the attorney is paid for services rendered. It is not a minimum fee. It is not a maximum fee. It is not a flat fee. It is simply money held on account to cover fees and costs as they are earned and incurred.
The deposit is held in a regulated trust account, as required by the California State Bar.
When an attorney puts his or her name on papers filed with the Court, the attorney is obligated to perform services for the client until the client signs a substitution of counsel form, or the Court orders the attorney released. The purpose of the deposit is to ensure payment for that obligation.
Payment covers all time spent on the matter, including administrative time such as billing and addressing billing disputes.
I spend time working on the case and record that time. Monthly or quarterly, I multiply the time spent by the hourly rate to compute the legal fees that I have earned. I also record any costs that I have expended. I sum those amounts, withdraw them from the deposit, and the client's deposit balance is reduced accordingly.
When the deposit reaches a certain set amount, I make a written request for an additional deposit. The additional deposit must be made within two business days of the request.
When the engagement terminates, all unused amounts in the deposit are refunded to the client.
However, no refund of any funds will be issued until the funds have cleared my bank for 30 days. This is to protect against reversed or fraudulent payments.
Ted Broomfield Law does not accept credit card payments because they defeat the purpose of a deposit. The purpose of the deposit is to ensure the client pays. Credit cards allow disputes and chargebacks for up to two years, and this can be long after the engagement ends. The chargeback process is time-consuming and expensive for the attorney.
If a client has a fee dispute, the client can always request the California State Bar's Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program.
Ted Broomfield Law will accept credit card convenience checks, because those are treated as cash advances and carry fewer dispute and chargeback rights for the client.
The bill or invoice is my estimate of the time and money that I have spent on your matter. Billing is rounded up by tenths of hours. The invoice provides a brief description of the activity that I performed, along with a code that pertains to that activity.
Everybody makes mistakes and I do, too. However, please be aware that I bill far less than I actually consume on each case. California law acknowledges that the bill is just an estimate of time. It is very common for activities to take more than one sitting, and the exact content for more than one time entry is perfectly acceptable and not the basis of a legitimate complaint.
Billing questions are normal. I am happy to discuss and make adjustments if I believe they are warranted. However, consistent, repeated billing disputes are just a sign that the relationship is not working.
Please note that time consumed on billing disputes is compensable.
My online billing software provides a portal that makes each client's unique billing information and documents available on demand. Through your portal, you can download your invoices, as well as an exportable file showing your deposit balance and transactions in your trust account.
However, the portal is not password protected and can be accessed by anyone with the web address. Therefore, if you want access to this portal, you must first sign a disclosure, consent, and agreement. Once signed, I will create the portal and send you the link.
Sign Portal Consent AgreementTed Broomfield is on LegalShield's referral panel. LegalShield is a for-profit, membership-based company that charges its members a monthly fee in exchange for legal benefits. The level of benefits is determined by the type of membership.
When a LegalShield member requests a legal service, the member contacts LegalShield. LegalShield may assign the matter to one of their "captive" law firms, such as Parker Stanbury. However, sometimes LegalShield refers their members' requests to independent attorneys such as Ted Broomfield.
LegalShield sends a short email to a group of attorneys asking if they are interested in a referral and explaining the basic facts. LegalShield then assigns the matter to one attorney who has accepted the referral.
That referral does not make the member the client of the attorney. Instead, the member is entitled to a free, no-obligation consultation with the attorney. What additional benefits the member is entitled to depends on what LegalShield has communicated to the attorney.
B1 — Consultation Plus Limited Service: A free consultation, review of up to 15 pages of documents, and one communication (written or telephone) to one third party, with a report of any response received.
B5 / B9 — Consultation Plus Discounted Rate: A free, no-obligation initial consultation with a discount off the normal hourly rate that the attorney charges.
B3 — Consultation Plus Limited Pre-Trial and Trial Hours: A free, no-obligation initial consultation with a small number of pre-trial hours (such as 3 to 6 hours) that LegalShield pays the attorney for, and a material number of trial hours that LegalShield also pays for. However, it is important for the member to understand that after those small initial pre-trial hours that LegalShield pays for, but before the trial hours that LegalShield pays for, are the majority of hours — and the member must pay the attorney for those.
Think of it like professional sports: under B3, LegalShield pays for the "pre-season" (the small number of initial pre-trial hours) and LegalShield pays for the "playoffs" (the trial hours). However, LegalShield does not pay for the "regular season" — the grand majority of hours required to do the work necessary to even get the case to trial. The member must pay the attorney for those hours.
National Plan — Full Attorney Fee Coverage: Under the National Plan, LegalShield pays for all attorney fees, and the member is only responsible for the "costs" of the engagement. Note: costs can be very expensive. In litigation, they can be upwards of $30,000 or $40,000, or more, especially if expert testimony is required.
The benefits that Ted Broomfield will provide to LegalShield members are exclusively determined by the written communication that LegalShield provides to Ted Broomfield. Ted Broomfield will not provide benefits that LegalShield has not communicated that the member is entitled to. It is the member's sole responsibility to communicate with LegalShield if the member believes that the member's benefits are incorrect. Ted Broomfield will not discuss the member's benefits with LegalShield under any circumstances, nor provide LegalShield members with any benefits that LegalShield has not communicated that the member is entitled to.
Contact LegalShield Directly: (833) 721-8083
You may see negative reviews online. As an attorney, I am ethically prohibited from responding to reviews in a way that reveals client confidences, so I cannot always defend myself publicly. However, the large quantity of personal attacks falsely alleging that I am a racist is not only untrue, but not even credible as determined from the reviews themselves. I am not the right attorney for anyone who is more interested in saying what they want, rather than dealing with the challenges and risks of obtaining the objectives. However, that is no reason to falsely accuse anyone of being a racist. I deny any such allegations.
I do not usually expressly solicit reviews, but a positive review is always appreciated:
• Leave a review on Yelp
• Leave a review on Google
Ted Broomfield Law, PC is not associated with the website tedbroomfieldlaw.com. That domain was purchased by a third party after Ted Broomfield's ownership of it expired.
Upon written request, and within a reasonable time, a client will receive a link to a cloud-based folder containing their case file. This case file will contain all the documents that the client is entitled to.
However, items such as attorney notes and partial or rejected drafts of documents will not be provided.
As a general rule, to save the client money, the work of assembling the case file for the client to access is only performed upon request. The time consumed in assembling the case file is compensable.
- IRS Form W-9— Request for Taxpayer Identification Number
- Substitution of Attorney (MC-050)— Judicial Council form to change attorneys of record
- IRS Form 1099-MISC— Miscellaneous income reporting (IRS.gov)
- California Uniform Statutory Power of Attorney— Probate Code §4401 (LA County PDF)
- California Judicial Council Forms— Official court forms
- Sacramento County Public Law Library— Self-help guides and legal resources
- California State Bar— Look up an attorney, file a complaint, fee arbitration
- San Francisco Superior Court— Local court information
- California Legislative Information— Look up California statutes
- IRS Forms & Instructions— Federal tax forms
- California Court Case Search— Search court records statewide
- San Francisco Rent Board— Rent control and tenant protections
- California Department of Insurance— Insurance complaints and information
The following vendors can be contacted to verify that Ted Broomfield Law, PC pays its bills:
Attention to detail is a wonderful skill, and people who never make typos are fantastically talented in that area. I long ago learned to lean into my strengths and be expedient with mitigating and correcting my weaknesses.
Typos are a fact of life. People who say they never make them, never type. They can be critical, but often they just don't matter.
I am a tactical and procedurally focused attorney. I produce high volumes of documents and filings that most other attorneys cannot keep up with. Sometimes that makes me commit typos. One thing is for certain: if I think a typo does not matter, I am not going to get worked up about it.
If you think that every typo is critical, I am not the attorney for you.