DorkJacob Law
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1B Palm View, Palmer, Ridgeway discord.gg/mPY2AMy6Zp
July 3rd, 2022
ZuluCenturion
1050 Dana Street
Palmer, Ridgeway
Re: Engagement Letter
Dear ZuluCenturion,
Thank you for selecting DorkJacob Law ("us", "we" or the "firm") to serve
as your counsel. This engagement letter ("Agreement") outlines the nature of the
engagement and our respective responsibilities and expectations.
1. Scope of the Engagement. We have been asked to represent ZuluCenturion
("you" or "the client"). The scope of this engagement is limited to litigation arising
from the incident alleged in the Criminal Information filed in State v.
ZuluCenturion, No. RSC-CM-488 (2022). It does not include any other actual or
potential litigation, appeals, arrangements, or transactions that may arise out of this
matter. Our representation may be expanded if the parties separately agree in
writing to do so. After this engagement concludes, we have no further obligation to
advise you. As such, if there are any later legal developments that may impact your
future rights and liabilities, including changes in the applicable laws or regulations,
you will have to engage us separately to advise on such developments.
2. Efficient Service; Artificial Intelligence. We will do our best to serve you
efficiently. As such, we may use artificial intelligence to that end.
3. Outcome of the Litigation. The outcome of any matter is subject to inherent
risks and other factors beyond our control. Therefore, we have not made, and
cannot make, any guarantees or promises concerning the outcome of this matter.
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4. Service Fee. Generally, our service fee is based upon the final award given
by the Court. The service fee charged depends on the type of case and can be found
online at https://rebrand.ly/DorkLawFees. We reserve the right to charge you more
or less than the general service fee depending on the type of case, how extensive
the litigation is, and how laborious it is for us to take the engagement. The service
fee is due and payable within seven days of the retainer being closed or the
judgment of the Court becoming final and unappealable. You will be sent a billing
statement reflecting such with other disclosures.
5. Retainer. In consideration of our services, we require a retainer, which will
be applied to any fees we may accrue in the course of the engagement. The amount
of the retainer is dependent on the type of case and can be found online at
https://rebrand.ly/DorkLawFees. Such retainer will be kept by the firm. We will
draw down on your retainer to satisfy our billing statements, copies of which will
be sent to you electronically. When your retainer is exhausted, we will advise you
and we will charge you a supplemental retainer for us to draw upon for future
statements. Whatever portion of the retainer remains after the engagement ends
will be returned to you by the firm. The amount needed for the retainer is
dependent on the type of case.
6. Expenses. In addition to our service fee and retainer, in the course of
providing services to you, we may incur expenses for services including printing,
photocopying, delivery services, telephone usage, postage, fax transmissions,
document binding, computerized legal research, deposition fees, court costs, filing
fees, expert and non-expert witness fees, travel, lodging, meals, and overtime for
firm secretarial and other staff services. The actual expenses incurred depend on
the services that we provide to you. We also may need to seek the assistance of
investigators, consultants, and expert witnesses (testifying or non-testifying), and
retain electronic discovery vendors and litigation support professionals to help
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collect, review, and exchange relevant documents, including electronically stored
information. We shall obtain your consent before retaining any such professional
service providers/litigation support/electronic discovery vendors. Our fee schedule
is available online at https://rebrand.ly/DorkLawFees.
7. Billing. Generally, our billing statements for fees, expenses, costs, and
disbursements will be prepared and given to you electronically. The balance on
these billing statements will be applied against the retainer. When the retainer is
depleted, payment is due within seven business days after the statement date. If a
statement is not paid within seven business days of the statement date, 10 percent
(%) interest per day will be imposed on your statement’s payable balance. If full
payment on the final billing statement is not received within fourteen business days
of the statement date, we may elect to enforce the obligation through legal process.
Any statement will be deemed to be accepted and affirmed by you unless objected
to in writing within 30 business days of the date of the statement. Failure to give
notice of any such objection within 30 business days constitutes a waiver of
objection. You agree to pay any and all fees and costs incurred in the collection and
enforcement of this Agreement including, but not limited to, attorney fees. In the
event that you fail to remain current in the payment of legal fees as provided
herein, you agree that we may at any time thereafter cease any further legal work in
the matters and withdraw as counsel, on notice, subject to any necessary approval
by the appropriate courts or other tribunals and to our general ethical obligations.
8. Continuity of Staffing. We agree to accord the highest possible priority to
maintaining continuity of staffing in this engagement; however, it may become
necessary to delegate responsibility for various portions of this matter to other
attorneys in our firm. If this is the case, we will inform you in advance of the
identity of these attorneys. If this delegation is at our request and for our
convenience, you will not be responsible for the time required for such additional
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attorneys to acquaint themselves with the substance of the engagement. Similarly,
you will not be responsible for any fees for time required to familiarize or educate
our associates with respect to background or routine matters.
9. Waiver. Because of the firm's size, geographical reach, and broad legal
practice, it is possible that our attorneys may now or in the future represent parties
in matters in which their interests are adverse to your interests. You hereby agree
that we may continue to represent or may in the future represent new or existing
clients in any matter that is not substantially related to our work for you, even if the
interests of such clients in those matters may be adverse to you (directly or
indirectly). If the firm undertakes a conflicting representation, although there is a
risk that we may not be able to exercise professional judgment fully in your
interest, we believe that such risk is minimal and that we will be able to continue to
represent you competently and diligently. In the event that an actual conflict arises,
we may need to withdraw as counsel, which may result in increased expenses and
delays. This risk, too, is minimal, as we will not undertake any representation that
is directly adverse to your interests in this engagement. To minimize risks further,
no attorneys working on this engagement will work on the conflicting matter and
an ethical wall will be created to separate the conflicting matter from this
engagement. In addition, sensitive, proprietary, or other confidential information of
a non-public nature concerning you that we acquire as a result of our representation
of you will not be transmitted to lawyers who may work on such matters. We have
asked for similar agreements in engagement letters with many of our other clients
to preserve our ability to represent you. By signing this engagement letter below,
you confirm that you have had an opportunity to consult with independent counsel
regarding the terms of this waiver.
10. Termination of the Engagement. Upon written electronic notice to the firm,
you shall have the right at any time to terminate our services and representation
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under this Agreement. Such termination, however, shall not relieve you of the
obligation to pay for all services rendered and costs and expenses paid or incurred
on your behalf in accordance with this Agreement prior to the date of such
termination. Please note that your right to obtain successor counsel may be subject
to court approval. It is possible that the court may (a) decide not to grant the
substitution of counsel or (b) refuse to delay the proceeding to accommodate the
hiring of new counsel. We also have the right to terminate the representation for
good cause, subject to an obligation to give you reasonable notice to arrange for
alternative representation. Good cause to withdraw includes, but is not limited to,
(a) your failure to honor the terms of the engagement, (b) your failure to cooperate
or follow our advice on a material matter, (c) circumstances where our continued
representation would be unlawful or unethical, or (d) any other reason permitted by
the applicable ethics rules. In the event that we terminate the engagement for good
cause, you remain obligated to pay all outstanding balances. We will take such
steps as are reasonably practicable to protect your interests in this matter. You
agree to take all steps necessary to free us of any obligation to perform further,
including the execution of any documents necessary to perfect our withdrawal. If
permission for withdrawal is required by a court, we will promptly apply for such
permission and you agree to engage successor counsel to represent you.
11. Documents. During the engagement, we will maintain all documents
relevant to this representation. At the conclusion of this engagement, we will retain
your original documents for a period of one year unless you request that they be
returned to you. If you have not requested possession of the file or any of its
contents at the end of one year, the file will be destroyed in accordance with our
record retention policy.
12. Communication. It is important for us to maintain open communication with
each other throughout the engagement. We will regularly keep you informed of the
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status of the matter and will promptly notify you of any major case developments.
We will consult with you whenever appropriate. You agree to communicate with us
and provide us with complete and accurate information as needed to further the
case. Further, you will timely notify us of any changes to the personal information
or residence of any individuals related to this matter, or any extended periods of
time when you will be unavailable. Unless you specifically direct us otherwise, we
may use mobile phones, email, and facsimile machines in the course of this
engagement. Our email and facsimile transmissions may not be encrypted so the
use of such forms of communication under current technologies may place
confidential or privileged information at risk. Similarly, the use of mobile phones
may place confidential or privileged information at risk. By signing below, you
consent to our use of these forms of communication.
13. Cooperation. You will assist and cooperate fully with us with respect to this
engagement. In connection with this engagement, you will be available to discuss
issues as they arise, comment on and approve draft documents we prepare, and
attend and participate in meetings, preparation sessions, court proceedings, and
other activities. You also agree to be truthful and to fully and accurately disclose to
us all facts that may be relevant to the matter or that we otherwise may request.
You will timely provide any new information that you receive about the matter so
that we can represent you effectively.
14. Choice of Law & Forum. This Agreement and all related documents, and all
matters arising out of or relating to this Agreement, whether sounding in contract,
tort, or statute are governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the
State of Ridgeway, without giving effect to the conflict of laws provisions thereof
to the extent such principles or rules would require or permit the application of the
laws of any jurisdiction other than those of the State of Ridgeway. In the event that
a dispute arises between you and the firm, all such matters shall be resolved by a
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court. You agree that the state courts of Ridgeway County shall be the exclusive
forums for litigation concerning this Agreement or any aspect of our engagement.
You consent to personal jurisdiction in such courts as well as service of process by
any means authorized by state law. In the event of any litigation, the prevailing
party will be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees and other costs of
collection.
15. Privacy. In the course of providing legal services to you, we may receive
nonpublic personal information about you. All such information will be held in
strict confidence and will not be disseminated to any person or entity outside this
law firm without your consent unless such disclosure is required under state law.
We may store some or all of your files on a variety of platforms, including
third-party cloud-based servers. Although we take every precaution to make sure
these servers are encrypted and secure, there still is a risk that your confidential or
privileged information may be disclosed. By signing below, you consent to our use
of such storage services.
16. Attorney-Client Privilege. Generally, the information we receive from you is
subject to the attorney-client privilege. However, we may be under an independent
ethical duty to reveal privileged information if (a) it involves the commission of
illegal or fraudulent acts that are committed in the course of this engagement, (b) it
involves the intent to commit a crime, or (c) we are required to disclose the
information by law or court order.
17. Entire Agreement. This Agreement, together with any other documents
incorporated herein by reference, constitutes the sole and entire agreement between
us with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement and supersedes all prior and
contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties,
both written and oral, with respect to the subject matter.
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Please review this letter carefully and let us know if you have any questions
or concerns. If you agree to the terms of this letter, please sign it and return it to us.
We appreciate the chance to be of service and look forward to working with you.
Dated: July 3rd, 2022
Palmer, Ridgeway
/s/ DorkJacob
———————————————————————————
DORKJACOB
Ridgeway Bar No. 17135
Owner, DorkJacob Law
/s/ ZuluCenturion
———————————————————————————
ZULUCENTURION
Client
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AMENDATORY ENDORSEMENT
No Fees. No fees will be charged for this Engagement.
Dated: July 3rd, 2022
Palmer, Ridgeway
/s/ DorkJacob
———————————————————————————
DORKJACOB
Ridgeway Bar No. 17135
Owner, DorkJacob Law
/s/ ZuluCenturion
———————————————————————————
ZULUCENTURION
Client
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