$60,000 in one month for divorce and wage claim

[smallbusiness]

What is the name of your state? Mass.

I hired an attorney to handle a divorce (no assets, joint custody was on the table), and a wage claim by my wife against my company ($20,000, not supportable). By the end of the month he had billed me $60,000 (sixty thousand dollars). I gave him $25,000 as a retainer, and last I asked he had spent $14,000. But then I got the bills for $60K.

I would file a malpractice claim, but what can I expect to get. They also have fee arbitration. I want $10,000 back from the retainer.

 

[stephenk]

what did your attorney say when you questioned the bill?

 

[smallbusiness]

Bill

They said they were willling to reduce the bill by $5000, but they wanted the bills paid up before they did more work, and another $10,000 retainer. I asked for the file, and it's 500 pages of chatty emails between my attorney and opposing counsels. There were also critical pieces of information dicussed that should have been transmitted to me that would have affected how I handled the matter. (It also involved a family business).

As we were facing several critical filing deadlines, he put his brakes on as a result of the bills. First, an asnwer was filed in a related matter, but without counterclaims. A bona-fide offer was not passed to the other side, so rather than settle it, it required another court appearance on that matter.

I asked for a meeting in early January, and he said late February was the earliest he could meet. He then cancelled that meeting. I called the managing lawyer in the office six times, and she would not return calls or speak with me. So the bills are sitting. His assistant called to see if I wanted to meet to discuss them, a month after he cancelled the last meeting. I have since run out of funds and am being represented (very well) by an excellent attorney, pro bono. Bu they screwed up the case, and I am out of money, likely now heading into Chapter 7 (personal) and 11 (business).

Thank you for any assistance.

 

[ForFun]

What is the name of your state? Mass.

I hired an attorney to handle a divorce (no assets, joint custody was on the table), and a wage claim by my wife against my company ($20,000, not supportable). By the end of the month he had billed me $60,000 (sixty thousand dollars). I gave him $25,000 as a retainer, and last I asked he had spent $14,000. But then I got the bills for $60K.

I would file a malpractice claim, but what can I expect to get. They also have fee arbitration. I want $10,000 back from the retainer.

Without knowing the details about your divorce, and the work that your attorney did, it's impossible to say whether $60k is reasonable in one month.

However, I will say this: In general, it is a high figure. I'm basing this on assumptions, though. Let's say you're being charged $300/hr, which is actually on the high end of the spectrum (though you could easily pay more depending on the lawyer/firm). $60k divided by $300/hr equals 200 hours. Let's now divide 200 hours by 25 days (31 days in January minus 6 weekend days) and we'll get 8 hours. So, in order to rack up $60k in lawyer fees in one month based on my assumptions, he must have worked on your case for 8 hours every business day for the entire month, which is extremely unlikely.

Of course, as I mentioned, I don't know the details. Maybe your divorce is very complicated, and maybe they had several attorneys working at once. All I can do is guess. You definitely deserve an exact accounting of the charges, however.

 

[smallbusiness]

nature of work

I asked for the file. There are three categories of work.

First, on the divorce, for which they were retained. When I asked on the last week that they did work, I was told they had spent $14,000. A lot considering we have no assets, and joint custody was on the table when I came to them. That figure mysteriously jumped to $24,000 when it became clear shortly thereafter that I was not going to continue with them. When I finally got the bill, which totalled $24,000, there were a few "six hour" charges that seemed very odd given the nature of what needed to be done. (Or put differently, I don't know what he could have spent six hours doing...he has a lot of clients...)

Second, there was a related business matter that they asked if I wanted to retain their firm for. I said no. The attorney I hired for the divorce noted that he knew the opposing counsel on the related business matter, and offered to see if he could fold that in, and that work is reflected on the divorce bills. However, at the end of the month they told me that they had opened up a matter for my company, and the balance due was $24,000. When I asked for the bills, they sent "pre-bills" for my review and comment, and 600 pages of emails. They were mostly chatty back and forths. No legal work (it was a simple suit, and they didn't even answer it.)

Finally, I have an issue with the quality of the work. At a critical meeeting, the attorney involved had not read any of the agreements. The divorce lawyer went to court to get a final order in my case, not realizing that due to the nature of the divorce compliant, I had to wait six months, etc. etc.

I am happy to pay them the $14,000 that they quoted when I asked that work be stopped, but not the extra $10,000 that suddenly appeared on the divorce bill, and not the $24,000 that I did not authroized and involved no legal work, just lots of back and forths with their attorneys.

 

[ForFun]

You may want to try the fee arbitration service from the Mass Bar Assoc: http://massbar.org/for-attorneys/resources--services/fee-arbitration

It appears that the parties do not have to participate, but I suspect that many lawyers do, since fee disputes often lead to malpractice suits, etc.

If I were you, I'd start there.

 

[smallbusiness]

arbitration

Thanks for sending the link. That was really helpful. Do you happen to know how the panels are comprised? Is is binding? Is it known for being even handed between clients and attorneys?

Thanks.

 

[Dandy Don]

Did you sign a fee agreement with him when you first hired him and what does the agreement call for as far as pay compensation--is it hourly billing or does it just mention retainer only?