Last year attorney
Bettina L. Yanez was standing by her car in the parking lot of her family law firm in Orange County when one of her clients pointed out that she needed new tires. She hadn't noticed. But the client, a mechanic who was struggling to pay his legal fees, offered to get her replacements at cost in exchange for her services.
Based on fair market value, they estimated the tires were worth roughly $600, and in a 21st-century rendition of bartering, she provided him with a day's worth of discounted, unbundled legal services in return. Yanez will send her client a Form 1099 and include the value of the trade on her firm's tax report.
With many low-income people priced out of the legal system, Yanez has for several years tried to offer clients creative payment plans, but the tire swap was her first venture into a straight barter for legal work. She doesn't expect that trading services will ever dominate her practice, but says "it's a way to give someone what they need. ... They don't want to feel like you're giving them a handout."
Yanez is in the midst of negotiating several barter deals, and she is using the approach to enable other financially stretched clients to meet their outstanding bills. "Rather than going to small claims or trying to break that relationship, I've said, 'Well, is there some service that you provide? Maybe I need it and you can finish paying me off in that way.'"
Kari Santos
Daily Journal Staff Writer
