Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. believes that the ultimate responsibility of a full-service insurance firm is to provide a quality work product at a reasonable and fair price. We continue to offer hourly rates for subrogation and insurance defense matters far below the industry average. We strongly believe that incidental costs and expenses such as long distance telephone calls, facsimile charges, routine duplicating costs, and routine postage expenses, which are ordinarily necessary in the handling and development of any litigation matter, should not be passed on to the client. This is just another way in which Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. strives to set itself apart from other insurance litigation firms and provide top-notch representation as economically as possible.

INSURANCE DEFENSE AND COVERAGE WORK: We handle defense and coverage matters on a low, hourly rate, absorbing the typical "overhead-type expenses" listed above in an effort to assist our clients in holding down the cost of defending liability insurance claims and coverage issues. We strive to maintain clarity and integrity in our time and billing, providing you with a detailed breakdown and description of all action taken on your behalf, broken down by date of service and clearing indicating the amount of time assessed for each such entry. The invoice is further broken down and summarized by attorney or legal assistant, amount of time spent by each in total, and clearly sets forth the hourly rates applicable for each. In a further effort to hold down fees, we strive to delegate much of the legal work, as is appropriate, to legal assistants whose hourly rates are lower than those of the lawyers.

SUBROGATION: Our experience has shown that the most cost-effective fee arrangement for handling insurance subrogation/recovery matters has been a time and expense basis. Where we are engaged to handle subrogation on such a basis, the same low hourly rates applicable in defense and coverage matters would apply. When the client prefers handling of subrogation matters on a contingency fee basis, you receive the same aggressive and quality representation as you would on a time and expense basis, but our fees are calculated on a percentage of the subrogation recovery you receive, plus reasonable expenses. You are still not charged for the traditional "overhead-type expenses" which many other firms charge. The traditional contingency rates are as follows:

• 25% of recovery if no suit is filed
• 33 1/3% of recovery if suit is filed
• 40% of recovery if the case must be tried and/or an appeal is taken

BLENDED/FLAT FEES: As part of our continuing effort to hold down fees and facilitate the referral and handling of litigation matters, we recognize that all matters referred to us are not the same and welcome the opportunity of discussing blended and/or flat fees for particular matters entrusted to us on a case by case basis. We also will entertain fee cap agreements, whereby we strive not to exceed a pre-determined fee level unless and until you have given us permission to do so. We believe that many fee agreements should be determined on a case by case basis based on the facts and circumstances of each matter entrusted to us.