I did most of the "leg work" for my attorney and gave her a lot of information (the job she should have done) and now she sends me this huge bill for her services. I don't feel I should have to pay all of it because I was not happy with her services. Do I have any recourse?
2006-10-07 23:13:01 · 11 answers · asked by Hershey 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
I work for a lawyer, and one of the problems we have is with people who have unrealistic expectations about what can be done for them. People come in with an attitude of "I'm right, they are wrong" and refuse to let it soak in that the law is different than their personal beliefs and viewpoint. We are very upfront about what we can do for them and the expected results of our actions ... but some people still have unrealistic expectations.
Your attorney probably didn't agree to do a lot of the "leg work", particularly if it is a small practice. There just isn't time, and it's quite frankly not cost effective for you to spend $200 an hour so she can go get a copy of a document or some other thing that does not require any legal expertise. Did you forget that you have to pay for her time? For example, you can go get a copy of the police report yourself and drop it off at our office ... or we can do it for you and bill you $150. 45 minutes of your time costs $0. 45 minutes of our time will cost you $150.
You are paying for our time, and frankly I don't know why anyone would choose to pay $200 an hour to someone for a task they could accomplish themself at no cost. Things like that require no legal expertise, and you should be grateful that she didn't try and rip you off.
If you were not happy with her services, you should have hired someone else instead of allowing her to continue to do the work and then try and gyp her at the end.
2006-10-08 02:42:24 · answer #1 · answered by BoomChikkaBoom 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Did you lose your case?
What kind of agreement did you sign when you retained her services in the first place?
What part of the proffered bill are you unhappy with and do you feel can be contested in good faith?
Odds are, when you retained her services, you agreed to the cost.
You did not "do the legwork she should have done", you provided her with information that helped her prepare your case, and that she might have billed you with, very expensively, if she'd had to find them on her own.
You may try to bargain the price down. If you feel she has acted in ways not befitting a professional (bad ethics, incompetence and truly stupid blunders), you may put the case in front of the bar association and see where that gets you. Be careful about suing for malpractice : lawyers do tend to extend each other professional courtesy, and any lawyer you retain for that will know in advance you're a problem customer, so be ready to fork out up front.
2006-10-09 12:31:46 · answer #2 · answered by Svartalf 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep, you got to pay it. As far as any recourse, I'm not sure. I do know you'd have to prove that she did not do her job as well as meet the standards of an attorney. You know kind of like mal-practice. If you are able to show this you may very well have a leg to stand on so to speak. BUT you CAN start with the board of bar overseers. This board is usually located in the capital city of where ever you are from. If there is a problem they DO address it. I myself discovered that I was being ripped off financially by an attorney I hired to represent me. When I discovered that he took me for like $8000.00 US Dollars I went to him and told him that I was starting with the board and tehn I'd see him in court. Before the day was over he handed me the money. IN FULL and also waived any money he would have made from this deal. So he got nothing from me. So this does work.
2006-10-07 23:49:00 · answer #3 · answered by GRUMPY 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You could try to negotiate with her. First of all even bad lawyers are experts at filing on you to get their money. You could bring up the fact that there was not a price agreed upon before she took your case, because you are obviously surprised at the bill. Call a few other attorneys to see what the going rate for the services are, and use that as a platform for your negotiations. If she's way out of line then let her take you to court. Just have your proof of her unethical charges.
2006-10-07 23:19:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is a dispute resolution process through the local bar association. A lot of times, with a malpractice suit as a background threat, they will either slash the bill to something reasonable or just write it off altogether. You need to call the bar association and ask for the procedures. Nowadays, it wouldn't surprise me if there was an on-line form. But it would be local; likely county.
2006-10-07 23:22:27 · answer #5 · answered by auntb93again 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Is there any solid lawyer? That aside, you do no longer let us know engought to appreciate in case you have a ligitimate gripe or no longer. In some states (Texas is one) a freelance could be a verbal contract, so here you may have a confusing time proving you probably did no longer have a freelance interior the 1st place. As for suing him - ask your self first, "Why did I hire him interior the 1st place?" in case you employed him to maintain you out of detention center and he lost in courtroom - if ya' can no longer do the crime, the do no longer do the crime. in case you employed him for some variety of civil action and he lost - you may nonetheless have a confusing time proving malpractice (that's what they value scientific docs with, by how - no longer legal professionals).
2016-10-15 23:22:03 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First "leg work" did you go to the court house and look up case law for them, it was your case, and you are to supply them the info needed for your defense. They could have hired people to do the leg work, and charge you more money.
Attorneys charge a large fee, nomrally 5000 just to walk into court for you.
If you don't pay they will merely sue you, gete a judgement, garnish your pay or attach your bank accounts. They are not worried they will get thier money.
2006-10-08 03:53:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you have to pay and bad attorneys are everywhere. You can report the attorney's conduce to the state bar association. The have an ethics code. (ethics and lowers.... kind of an oxymoron
2006-10-08 04:08:36 · answer #8 · answered by Ranger473 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well it depends, did you win your case? or would you have been happy if you won? If services are already rendered well you may just have to suck it up. Speak to another attorney and weigh your options.
2006-10-07 23:24:43 · answer #9 · answered by nbr660 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If she did poorly, contact the Bar Association. I had a lawyer do me a bad job years ago. I still owed money to him after we were done, he did bad enough, he never even tried to collect.
2006-10-08 00:14:10 · answer #10 · answered by Mr. Know 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋