An interesting article was published in California Lawyer, January 2011 issue, regarding attorneys' fees, and in particular, negotiating the amount of those fees during settlement discussions. Negotiating Attorneys Fees, Id. at 12, "Expert Advice," by Adam W. Hofmann, from the San Francisco office of Hanson Bridgett. The author recognizes that attorneys representing plaintiffs in civil rights and public interest cases usually bifurcate the settlement negotiations, with an attempt to reach agreement on the substantive issues first. The right to attorneys' fees, and the amounts thereof, are typically delayed until after the substantive issues have been resolved. Plaintiffs lawyers usually claim that bifurcation is necessary to avoid an ethical conflict between the client's claim and the lawyer's interest in getting paid.

The author argues, however, that such strategy may, in some cases, be a tactical mistake. The tactic of negotiating the fees simultaneously with the substantive claims may arguably avoid the inherent conflict that usually arises.