What it is
Legal fee financing is a loan for your legal fee.
If the lender approves you, it pays the fee to the firm, and you repay the lender over time.
The money question
Legal fee financing: you can apply to pay for your military defense over time
Most people who reach us assume they cannot afford a civilian defense lawyer. Read this page before you decide that.
At Bilecki Law Group you can apply for legal fee financing through our payment provider. You apply when you pay your invoice, and approval is up to the lender. What you finance is a flat fee. Tim Bilecki or Ben Gold sets it once he has heard your case, and it does not rise because your case goes to trial. Financing is one of three ways to pay. You can also ask Tim about payment timing, or pay in full. Travel is billed apart from the legal fee.
How legal fee financing works here
You can apply to pay your legal fee over time through LawPay, our payment provider, and Affirm, its financing partner. You apply when you pay your invoice. Approval is up to the lender.
Step by step
Start with the case review. It is free. If we take your case, you get your flat fee on that call, so you know the exact amount before you apply for anything.
If you decide to hire us, we run a conflict check first. Then we send your engagement letter, fee agreement and invoice together.
Open the invoice on your own phone or computer and choose Pay Later. The application is with Affirm, not with us.
Affirm gives you its answer on the payment page. We cannot tell you in advance what that answer will be, because the decision is not ours.
What you see before you accept
Before you accept, Affirm shows you its offer: the amount, the rate, the payment and the number of months.
Looking at that offer is a soft credit check.
A loan can carry interest, so the total you repay can be more than the fee.
You are not committed to a loan until you accept the offer.
If the offer does not work for you, tell us. The other two ways to pay are still open.
Who the loan is with
The loan is between you and the lender. We do not decide who is approved, and we do not set the terms.
The financing comes from Affirm's lending partners.
Questions about the loan go to Affirm. Questions about your case come to us.
As LawPay describes it, the client is the person who applies. A parent or spouse who wants to help can pay the firm directly.
Affirm confirms identity through a mobile number from the United States or a U.S. territory. If you are overseas with a foreign number, tell us before you apply.
Nobody has to finance. It is one option of three.
Approved for part of the fee, or declined
The lender decides whether to approve you. It may also require a down payment, so the amount it finances can be less than your fee.
If the lender will finance only part of your fee, we can split the invoice: one part financed, the rest paid in full or on timing that Tim agrees to.
If you are declined, tell us. That answer is the lender's, not ours. What is left becomes a question of payment timing, and Tim decides that case by case.
Financing does not change your defense
How you pay has no effect on how we work. A client who finances gets the same two attorneys, the same preparation and the same trial as a client who pays in full. The lender has no say in your defense.
Your fee is the same whether you finance it or pay it in full. When you finance, our work starts once the lender approves and your fee agreement is signed.
The other two ways to pay
People search for lawyers that take payment plans. Here that means one of two things: financing through a lender, covered above, or payment timing agreed with Tim. The third way is to pay in full.
Ask about payment timing
If financing is not right for you, or the lender says no, say so on your call. Tim decides payment timing case by case. The closer your case is to trial, the less room there is.
Pay in full
Pay the whole fee from the invoice we send you.
If the lender declines you and no payment timing can be agreed, you owe us nothing.
What you are financing: a flat fee
A loan is only as predictable as the bill behind it. Ours is a flat fee, and you have it before you apply for anything. A case that can end in a court martial has two stages. Each has a flat fee of its own.
Under investigation
You have not been charged, but investigators are building a case against you. This stage has its own flat fee. It pays for our work while the investigation is open. If the investigation ends in an Article 15, a reprimand or a board instead of charges, whether there is a further fee depends on the case.
Charged
Once charges are preferred, which means you are formally charged, one flat fee carries your case through trial. It covers the Article 32 preliminary hearing, the motions, the trial and any sentencing. Contesting the charges in front of a judge or a panel adds nothing to it.
Travel
Travel is not part of the legal fee. We give you an estimate ahead of time, based on the actual cost. You pay that amount into a client trust account, and we bill travel against it at cost. Whatever is not used goes back to you when the case is over. Travel can be financed. It cannot be paid on a schedule after the trip, because travel funds must be in the trust account before we travel.
Hiring us early does not cost you more. If you retain us during the investigation and charges follow, the two fees together come to what the charged case alone would have cost. You get both figures on your case review call, and both are written into your fee agreement.
Facing a board, an Article 15 or another administrative action? That work has one flat fee, and you get it the same way: on your case review call.
What the fee buys
We are often not the lowest quote a service member hears. This is what our fee puts on your case.
Both attorneys. Tim Bilecki and Ben Gold both work your case, from the day you hire us until it is over.
A short client list. We keep our caseload low. That is a choice, and it is why your case gets the time it needs.
The lawyer you hire tries the case. Tim tries every case himself. More than 250 of his cases have gone to verdict.
If you are comparing quotes, put the same three questions to every lawyer:
- what the case costs if it goes to verdict,
- who will stand up in court,
- and how many other clients that lawyer has right now.
Then check the record. More than 540 of our case results are on this site. Read the case results
"It is worth every penny."
Marine Corps client. Full acquittal at a general court martial, 2023.
Read his reviewA prospective client may not obtain the same or similar results.
Straight answers about financing and fees
Does Bilecki Law Group take payment plans?
Yes, in two ways. You can apply for legal fee financing through our payment provider, and the lender decides. Or you can ask Tim about the timing of your payments to the firm. He decides that case by case, and there is more room early than close to trial.
How does legal fee financing work?
You apply when you pay your invoice, through LawPay, our payment provider. Approval is up to the lender. The loan is between you and the lender. The firm does not decide who is approved and does not set the terms. You get your flat fee on the case review call first, so you know the amount before you apply.
Can I find out whether I will be approved before I hire you?
No. The decision belongs to the lender, and we cannot check it for you in advance. What you can know first is the amount. If we take your case, you get your flat fee on the case review call.
What if the lender does not approve me?
Tell us. The lender made that decision, not us. From there it is a question of payment timing, which Tim decides case by case. There is less room when a trial date is near. If no timing can be agreed, you owe us nothing.
Does financing change how you defend my case?
No. The fee is the same and the work is the same. A client who finances gets the same two attorneys as a client who pays in full. The lender has no say in your defense.
Can a parent or spouse pay for the defense?
Yes. Families often pay, and we talk with them directly. The service member is still our client, and we speak with the service member before we accept the case. With the service member's consent, we keep the family informed.
How much does a military defense lawyer cost?
At Bilecki Law Group it is a flat fee. Tim Bilecki or Ben Gold sets it after he hears what you are facing, and you get it on your case review call. We do not post a number here, because the fee reflects the nature of the charges, the complexity of the work and the time your case is likely to take.
My military lawyer costs nothing. What does your fee add?
Your military defense counsel can stay on your case, and that costs you nothing. Hiring us does not replace that lawyer. It adds two attorneys who keep a low caseload, work your case from start to finish, and take the lead at trial.
Is the fee different if I am only under investigation?
Yes. The investigation stage is priced separately. If charges are preferred later, the trial stage has its own flat fee. You get both figures on your call, and you do not pay more in total for having hired us early.
Will the fee go up if I plead not guilty and go to trial?
No. After charges are preferred, the flat fee runs through trial: the Article 32 preliminary hearing, the motions, the trial and any sentencing. Fighting the charges does not raise it.
What is not included in the fee?
Travel. You get an estimate ahead of time and pay it into a client trust account. We bill against it at cost and return what is not used. Experts and investigators are usually paid for by the government or by defense funds, not by you. If your case needs an expert, an investigator or an interpreter that is not funded, you pay for it. You get the cost first, and we spend nothing until you approve it.
I am stationed overseas. How does this work from here?
Being overseas does not change the legal fee. It changes the travel bill. The case review is a phone call, and we keep hours for Korea, Japan and Europe. When your case goes to a trial or a board, we come to you.
Does the case review cost anything?
No. It is free and confidential, it takes about 45 minutes with Tim or Ben, and it usually happens the same day you book.
Your Defense Team
Two Court Martial Attorneys Work Every Case
Bilecki Law Group does one kind of work: military defense. Tim tries the case. Ben builds it with him.
Timothy J. Bilecki
Managing Attorney
Tim has practiced since 2003: first in the Army as a judge advocate, then, from 2010, at the firm he founded. He earned a degree in finance from Boston College, a law degree from the University of Miami, and an MBA from Babson College. Examples from Tim’s closing arguments appear in Michael Waddington’s 2018 book, Kick-Ass Closings: A Guide to Giving the Best Closing Argument of Your Life. Today he leads Bilecki Law Group's defense of service members in contested courts martial worldwide.
Read Tim Bilecki’s biographyBenjamin H. Gold
Associate Attorney
Evidence, Strategy and Preparation
Ben works through the discovery, builds timelines, interviews and prepares witnesses and develops the strategy with Tim. He puts the research, motions and written arguments behind that strategy.
Read Ben Gold’s biographyWorldwide Trial Capability
Overseas cases are a core part of our practice. We also defend service members at installations across the United States. Tim makes 8 to 10 overseas trips a year for client cases.
Get the number. Then decide.
The case review is free. If we can take your case, you leave it with your flat fee. You apply for financing when you pay the invoice, and approval is up to the lender.
Free and confidential. About 45 minutes with Tim or Ben. Usually the same day.