Hirzel Law’s published pricing for Illinois community associations. Jump to your question:
A condominium or common interest community association board should be able to understand how its law firm charges before deciding whether to hire it. Hirzel Law’s current attorney rates for Illinois community association clients range from $325 to $525 per hour. We also offer flat fees for certain standardized legal services and optional monthly Retainer Plans. For defined projects, such as many legal opinions and governing document amendments, we can often provide an estimate after reviewing the scope of work. Litigation and other contested matters are harder to predict because the cost depends in part on opposing parties, opposing counsel, courts, experts, discovery, and when the dispute is resolved.
This pricing guide explains our current Illinois condo and HOA attorney rates, flat fees, optional Retainer Plans, when an estimate may be available, why some legal matters are difficult to predict, and what additional costs an association may incur.
At a Glance
| Pricing Question | Current Approach |
|---|---|
| Attorney hourly rates | $325–$525 per hour |
| Administrative & Paralegal rates | $100–$200 per hour |
| Standardized recurring work | Flat fees available for listed services |
| Defined projects | Estimates are often available after scope review. |
| Litigation / Contested disputes | Hourly rates. Unfortunately, costs generally cannot be reliably predicted in advance, due to the numerous variables in litigation, but we can provide general estimates. |
| Initial retainer | Generally not required for initial retention or individual matters unless the client fails to pay invoices in a timely manner |
| Optional Monthly Retainer Plans | $350–$1,500 per month |
Hourly Rates
Our current Illinois community association rates are:
$100–$250 / hour
$325–$525 / hour
Time is billed in minimum increments of one-tenth (.1) of an hour. Depending on the matter, billable time can include correspondence, document review and drafting, emails, legal research, meetings, telephone calls, court appearances, discovery, mediation, travel time, and trial.
Not every matter requires the most senior attorney. Hirzel Law uses attorneys, paralegals, law clerks, and legal assistants where appropriate so that work can be assigned based on the experience and judgment required for the task.
The rates on this page are Hirzel Law’s current rates for new condominium associations, common interest community associations, homeowners associations, master associations, and other community association clients and are subject to change in the future. Most community associations are nonprofit corporations and are responsible for being careful stewards of association funds.
For that reason, Hirzel Law maintains a separate community association fee schedule. Under our current pricing, attorney rates for non-association corporate and real estate clients are generally $100 per hour higher than the community association attorney rates published above. Rates for other legal professionals may also differ.
We believe this pricing structure helps community associations obtain experienced condominium and HOA attorneys at rates that reflect the unique nature of association representation and the budget realities faced by volunteer boards. The terms of each client’s signed fee agreement ultimately control.
Retainers
Hirzel Law does not generally require an initial refundable retainer to become an Illinois community association client. The firm may require a refundable retainer later during a representation when circumstances warrant one.
A refundable retainer, if required, is an advance for security and is not an estimate of the total attorney fees or costs.
Separately, Illinois community association clients may choose to enroll in one of Hirzel Law’s optional monthly Retainer Plans. The monthly Retainer Plan is a service plan, not the same as a refundable trust retainer.
Retainer Plans
Illinois community associations may choose traditional pay-as-needed billing without a monthly Retainer Plan, which we typically recommend for most community association clients. In short, if your association has a reasonable budget for attorney’s fees and costs, and those fees are not spent, the association ends up keeping those funds, instead of paying them to the attorney. However, we realized that one size does not fit all, and some community associations are used to a monthly retainer plan model. Accordingly, Hirzel Law offers the following optional monthly retainer plans for Illinois community associations.
$350 / month
Unlimited calls exclude collections, covenant enforcement, litigation, and document amendments and apply only to qualifying general association questions.
$750 / month
$1,500 / month
No Retainer Plan — $0 monthly plan fee. Traditional pay-as-needed billing, which we typically recommend for most community association clients.
The specific terms, exclusions, turnaround requirements, and Collection Fee Guarantee are governed by the Illinois association fee agreement.
Flat Fees
Some recurring legal services for community associations are predictable enough that we can publish the price in advance.
| Service | Flat Fee |
|---|---|
| Collections Policy | $500 |
| Bylaw Enforcement | $500 |
| Fair Housing Policy | $500 |
| Homeowners Energy Statement | $500 |
| Accessible Parking | $500 |
| Landscaping | $500 |
| Electric Vehicles | $500 |
| Ombudsperson Act Complaint Policy | $500 |
| State Annual Report Filing | $100 |
| Condo/HOA Report Card | $2,000 |
Certain $500 items are priced for the initial compliance draft. Additional customization is billed at the applicable hourly rates.
Collections
Hirzel Law uses flat fees for several standard steps in the Illinois assessment collection process:
Flat fees · per step
The $750 Complaint for Possession & Unpaid Assessments fee does not include court filing fees or service-of-process costs.
While most community associations do not record liens and pursue eviction to collect unpaid assessments, Hirzel Law will record liens if the client instructs us to do so. The time incurred in preparing and recording the lien is billed at the applicable hourly rate, in addition to recording costs. If a foreclosure complaint becomes necessary, the time spent preparing and filing the complaint is also billed at the applicable hourly rate, plus court filing fees and service-of-process costs.
Other work, including settlement negotiations, additional litigation, collection of judgments, post-foreclosure work, and services outside the flat-fee schedule, is billed at the applicable hourly rate.
Estimates
Often, yes. If the board requests an estimate and the legal project has a defined scope and relatively few variables, we can frequently estimate the anticipated number of attorney hours or provide a reasonable fee estimate after reviewing the matter.
Examples may include written legal opinions, governing document amendments, review of specific declaration or bylaw provisions, and other clearly defined general counsel projects.
An estimate is not a fixed fee, cap, promise, or guarantee.
Actual attorney fees may be higher or lower if the facts change, additional legal issues arise, the board changes the scope, additional revisions are requested, or circumstances outside the association’s control require additional work.
The purpose of an estimate is to give the board useful budgeting information when the scope is reasonably predictable, without creating false certainty about work that has not yet been completed.
Predictability
Standardized recurring work: Usually predictable; a flat fee may be available.
Defined legal projects: Often reasonably estimable after scope review.
Contested disputes and litigation: Difficult to predict reliably in advance.
Litigation is the clearest example. The total cost can depend on how the opposing party responds, whether motions are filed, the amount of discovery, the number of depositions, the use of experts, court scheduling, insurance issues, and when the case settles.
For that reason, Hirzel Law generally does not cap the total attorney fees for litigation. We can discuss the expected next phase of a case, anticipated work, settlement opportunities, and significant cost decisions as the matter develops so that the community association can evaluate costs as the litigation proceeds.
Costs
Depending on the matter, an Illinois community association may also incur:
The amount of these costs depends on the matter. A routine legal opinion may involve few or no outside expenses, while litigation or a construction defect matter may require substantial third-party costs.
Controlling Fees
The hourly rate is only one part of the total cost. Boards can often reduce unnecessary legal expenses by defining the question, organizing the relevant documents, using a single point of contact, involving counsel before making a high-risk decision, and requesting an estimate when the scope is reasonably predictable.
For a more detailed discussion, see the guides below.
Transparency
Boards are spending association funds. We believe they should be able to understand how a prospective community association law firm charges before deciding whether to retain it.
Hirzel Law has represented more than 2,000 community association clients in Michigan and Illinois. Our Illinois attorneys represent condominium associations, common interest community associations, homeowners associations, master associations, and other community associations in Chicago, the Chicago suburbs, and throughout Illinois.
We represent community associations. We generally do not represent individual owners in claims against their condominium or homeowners association.
Community Association Law
We are Community Association Attorneys representing condominium associations, common interest community associations, homeowners associations, and other community associations throughout Illinois, including Chicago and the Chicago suburbs.
Request a ProposalTalk with a Condo & HOA Attorney (866) 394-4642