I can only tell you how my dad, when I worked for him, used to charge for Court appearances; real estate issue, but he wasn't a title searcher.
1. Fixed fee to prepare records and materials for Court appearance (your call on what you think your time to do this is worth).
2. Fixed fee to appear at scheduled Court appearance (say $500), regardless of time spent, whether case settled within 15 minutes of walking in the door or get to Court and attorney states, "it's called off." Once he walked out the office door it was $500, no charge for "travel."
3. Additional hourly rate or fixed fee (your call here) for time testifying in Court; i.e., he actually was called in to testify.
#1 and #3 rates were based on the relationship he had with the law firm. Also, we required #1 BEFORE Court appearance (to make sure he was at least paid for that work) and #2 and #3 within 10 business days of appearance.
Hope this helps. At least he knew #1 would be in hand. Sadly, #2 and #3 sometimes took months to collect; however, having "fixed" fees made it easier for the lawyers to tell their clients what to expect and for the lawyers to collect his fee.
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