Family Law: Do I have to pay when my Lawyer makes a mistake?

Question

Imm. after our last court date this past summer my x's attorney asked for discovery from us, due in 30 days. At day 31 my attorney requested a 30 day extension and to have their discovery in by that date as well.
His attorney never provided discovery but 1 month ago my attorney mailed our's to them. We didn't get anything and they didn't request an extention, so after several letters my attorney said she was going to bring his attorney into court on contempt and have them pay our costs.
But because we didn't provide our discovery within that first 30 days and they never confirmed the request for an extension the judge said we were in the wrong and that if we wanted their discovery we would have to pay $525 - their attorney fees.
So not only do we not get their discovery now I will be charged by my attorney for that day in court -
Is that fair? If she would have done things right & knew the ins and outs better, she would have known we wouldn't get attorney's fees - what to do?

I do like my attorney, she is a nice lady but only in law 3yrs but she charges me a lot less than most.
Should I ask her to not bill me for this day in court? Or only charge me half, can I do that?

Answer 1

First, find a better lawyer. Then, they will be able to help you. I would NOT continue with this lawyer who clearly does not have the skills to properly handle your case.

Answer 2

Sounds like your attorney moved to compel the response only after 60 days. Since it took your side 60 days to comply with the discovery, it probably means that the Judge felt your attorney was unreasonable in bothering the Court without trying to work out the discovery outside of Court. A good attorney givens the opposing side every opportunity to provide discovery before going to the Court. General rules of etiquette would require him to give several notices or chances to comply before going to the Court.

I'm a legal services attorney so I don't charge clients anything and can't imagine charging a client for my mistake or for losing a motion, unless I had advised the client not to go forward with something and they had demanded it. Or maybe if the reason that you provided discovery after the 30 days was the client's fault.

So my answer is:

I don't think you morally owe the money since he did a crappy job. No one would pay a mechanic who did nothing with your car. Do you legally owe him money? Probably. He did a service (appearing) that attorneys will usually charge for.

I'd talk to him or her about it though and maybe they will drop it.