Case Costs: What an Attorney May Advance
Use this page to identify what work might be purchased and who approves it. An expense inventory is different from the lawyer’s fee or the agreement’s repayment rules. Give each proposed expense a purpose, supplier, estimate, approval status and actual invoice; leave unnecessary or unexplained work unapproved until you understand it.
Hurt Advice editorial guide. Source review: . This guide does not state that the attorney authored, reviewed or approved it. Visit the profile for public licensing and background records.
Review the attorney’s public background, then confirm experience and availability directly.
Raffi Naljian
Founder, Civil Litigation, Personal Injury & Criminal Defense Attorney
Raffi Garabed Naljian is the founder of Naljian Law Offices and an active California attorney under State Bar #238919. A Los Angeles Times profile says he founded the firm in 2008 after beginning his legal career in 1997, and the State Bar lists personal injury, litigation, criminal law, and business law among his self-reported practice areas.
View Raffi Naljian's full verified profilePrimary identity record
Learn more about Raffi Naljian
This is a focused supporting page. Use Raffi Naljian's full sourced attorney profile as the primary identity record for biography, role, languages, office information, and public-record links. Review that profile alongside the issue-specific preparation and public sources below.
The State Bar record lists Raffi Garabed Naljian as an active California attorney, State Bar #238919. Hurt Advice is a separate referral and legal information service, not the attorney's law firm.
How to Evaluate Attorney Fit for This Issue
Ask the responsible lawyer to connect each proposed purchase to an unresolved question in the case. This inventory does not say that every case needs every item, that an attorney will advance it, or that a court will later shift it to another party.
Consultation worksheet
Expense inventory and approval worksheet
Create an entry only for proposed or incurred work. Record an estimate separately from the actual charge.
There is no submit or save action. Copy your notes before leaving this page.
Which document must be filed or served, which supplier is involved and what receipt will prove payment?
Which records or transcript format are needed? Record the custodian, quoted scope, delivery time and price.
What disputed question will the proposed work answer? Identify the supplier, estimate and authorization limit.
Who pays initially, who authorizes changes and where is approval recorded for each line item?
What was actually charged, how does it compare with the approved estimate and which difference remains unresolved?
Sources for this guide
- State Bar of California: Fees and billing
Explains fee arrangements and the separate expense questions a client should resolve before signing an agreement with a lawyer.
- California Business and Professions Code section 6147
Contingency agreement requirements, including written terms, the agreed rate, cost treatment, related work and the applicable negotiability statement.
- Judicial Council of California: Civil fee schedules
Official current and archived statewide schedules. Match the effective date, case category and filing item, then check the receiving court.
Check the Cost Decision
- 1List proposed purchases by supplier and purpose, separating attorney time from third-party expenses.
- 2Request estimates for the work actually proposed, including scope changes or rush charges.
- 3Agree how approval, payment and invoice updates will be recorded before work is ordered.
- 4Reconcile invoices against approved estimates; use the separate repayment guide to read the obligation at the end of the case.
Records for the Cost Review
- Filing and service receipts
- Records, deposition and transcript quotes
- Expert or investigator scope and estimates
- Approval messages, invoices and the expense ledger
Keep your unanswered questions handy when comparing the attorney’s public profile with your needs.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Listing every possible expense as necessary for this case
- Mixing medical balances and liens into the litigation-expense subtotal
- Treating an estimate as an invoice or a cost advance as a gift
Use the attorney’s public background as a starting point for a direct conversation about fit.
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Important Disclosures
Attorney Advertising. Hurt Advice is a lawyer-referral and legal-information service, not a law firm. This website provides general information, not legal advice. Viewing a page or submitting a form does not create an attorney-client relationship. Independent participating attorneys decide whether to accept a matter, and representation begins only under a separate written agreement. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome; results depend on the facts and circumstances of each matter.