QUESTION:
I really like my lawyer. She is excellent, and the law firm is well respected. That said, I feel like my lawyer is overcharging me for the work done? How do I best handle this? I don’t want to ruin our relationship.
ANSWER:
Ethan Stone
by Ethan Stone, Stone Business Law
My first inclination is to tell you to pay happily. Lawyers are worth every penny they charge. They deserve to be paid in full and on time!
That’s not very helpful, however.
So speaking as a lawyer (and not yours), I think the first thing you need to keep in mind is that if you like your lawyer and the service you’re getting, you don’t want to do anything that will make you a “problem client.” We try to give our best work to every client, of course, but we’re human and we’re under economic pressure to collect our bills. So if your lawyer starts thinking of you as a client who is constantly griping, haggling and delaying payment, that might unconsciously affect the relationship and possibly even the work in ways you should try to avoid.
So how do you deal with the problem without becoming a “problem client.” That depends to some extent on why you think the charge is too high. I’m assuming, since you say you like the lawyer, that you don’t think she’s padding her hours. And I’m also assuming you don’t have any kind of “flat fee” arrangements with her. So it probably boils down to a feeling that too many lawyers are spending too many hours to do work that should take less.
If that’s the nature of the problem, the best way to deal with it is to call the lawyer, tell her that your legal expenses have been running higher than your budget, and ask if you can talk to her about ways you might be able to streamline things. The point is not to accuse her of charging you too much or to get into a fight about hours already recorded. That will make her annoyed or defensive. Rather, try to get her thinking about ways to help you get things under control. She knows better than you do what’s going on and why, so she’s in a better position to come up with effective ways to control the hours. When you put your heads together, for example, you might find that the lawyers have been doing things for you that you could really do yourself, just to try and be helpful (or because you asked them to without thinking through how much it would cost).
Bear in mind that once your lawyer and her colleagues enter hours into the firm’s billing system, they show up as accounts receivable on the firm’s finances. So her partners will see it if you force her to write down lots of hours that have already been booked. At best, that will annoy her. At worst, it could be a serious internal problem for her. So if I were you, I would pay your most current bill in full right before you have the conversation about getting things under control (again, assuming you don’t think you were actually billed in error or for work that shouldn’t have been done at all). That will clearly signal that you’re looking for help in managing legal costs, not trying to get retroactive discounts on work already done.
I hope this helps. Legal work always costs more than you think it should (that’s how I feel when I’m the client, anyway), but there should be ways to keep it within acceptable limits.
My lawyer played on the coat tails of my Co-defendant. He said it would cost 70K and 70K as a contingency with the unused portion returned. The trial is completed and I received a bill for 140K.
Then my homeowners insurance finially kicked-in. Then I was presented with a bill of 350K with a request to submit it to the Insurance Co. Concidering the implication,could this be considered an act of fraud by the Insurance Commissioner.
Lawyer commy pinko scumm…
I requested my entire file on 1/12/15 and Motion to Compel on 3/12/15 and STILL don’t have it, nor a detailed billing as requested in those Motions 🙁
My case is low income where the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Office assisted with child support calculations and arrearage balance. My lawyer was hired AFTER to establish Contempt but only requested $6502 to my exhusband while billing me over $12,000 ~ I only needed him for Contempt, not to double bill me for duplicating the State’s work. I fired him when he DEMANDED my purge of $2890 towards HIS bill without asking for the $6502 legal award as a purge ~ instead it was added to the end of my arrearage which I pay $200 a month and $125 of that is just interest for my lawyer 🙁 I guess my question is this: If my ex lawyer told the Courts $6502 was for working on Contempt, I MUST be paying all the rest for services already provided by the State for FREE… Thank you in advance! Shannon
Very comprehensive advice. When you think that your lawyer is overcharging you then you need to see what your contract says? What’s his hourly rate? Lawyers are very expensive and it can add up quickly as they charge for every little thing. Every time they pick up a piece of paper for your case they will charge you hundreds of dollars.
I would recommend that you ask your lawyer for an itemized bill to find out exactly how all that money has been spent. You are entitled to an itemized bill. Once you get it you should get some idea of whether or not you are being overcharged.
Hello,
I posted earlier for Gake Junior, but looks like he is not the only one that thinks he is being taken advantage of with his lawyer bills. I was in the same spot as most of you, so we created http://www.reviewbilling.com. If your in the same position, visit our website, simply fill out the form or give us a call and let us review your legal bills for over-charging, bill padding and double billing. If we don’t find any over-charging, at least you will have peace of mind.
Steve
http://www.reviewbilling.com
Ethan Stone – If you were my Lawyer….
You as a Lawyer have been employed by me to get a job done within an acceptable time and at reasonable costs. If you think I’ll become ‘a problem client’ by asking questions and querying costs it would be in the interests of the Lawyer to be completely transparent from the outset, (unless of course they have anything to hide) this would negate any cause for you to get ‘annoyed or defensive’. Your article suggests to me that you want your client to sit in a box and keep schtum.
Remember, if anyone is dissatisfied with their costs, insist on an itemised bill and if necessary get them reviewed by the court by way of detailed assessment.
I have a claim dats gone to court they have asked for costs but my lawyer has asked for 2000 still .I tink I’m being ripped off
Gake Junior in Glass Castle-
Take a look at this site, they may be able to help.
http://www.reviewbilling.com
Ide like to know how a lawyer charges any money with this no win no fee rubbish. I am out of pocket over 1 and a half million dollars and have just been offered a 110K settlement and they want part of that. ARE YOU FRIGGING KIDDING? NO WAY I WONT ACCEPT THE SETTLEMENT. ILL LET WORKCOVER USE IT ALL WHILE IM IN THEIR CARE AND BE WHERE IM AT AT THE END OF IT. THEIVING FOLS.
ETHAN STONE your answer is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Lawyers should not be treated any differently than a handyman. Any cheat or one who overcharges should be called on it. Let’s face it. Most lawyers are awful at their job, not worth even a fraction of what they charge and many if not most overcharge intentionally. Since we cannot outlaw lawyers anytime soon (in early days they WERE outlawed), they should be be fired if they don’t lower their bill when warranted. It’s like any other business, supply and demand. There’s too many lawyers, so try to find a fair one – though most of us know that’s like finding a diamond at the beach.
ell here is my experience with my patent lawyer.
I work in the construction for over 30 years specializing in one trade, at some point I came up with an idea of a unique hand tool, so I found this lawyer and we did the patent search; and the search results showed it was a patentable/good idea.
So then we got down to business with the lawyer, and first thing I asked (like any normal person would do) was how much this patent proses will cost?! so here is what he said and what happened: he asked for 3.000 dollars to file the provisional application (but he charged me 8.000 )…. he then asked for 7.000 to file the non provisional (he charged me 20.000)… he asked for 20.000 thousand to file for the European (he charged me 50.000 thousand dollars!!!) he was charging me MORE than twice the amounts we had disused!!!…but you see this was never on email!
For 4 years (which was the patent’s processing period) I was receiving bills from this lawyer every 2-3 months with various amounts and with the same description every time: (for services rendered) nothing else!
I was billed 78.000 dollars within 4 years, but he received from me 65.000, because at that point my mind just FLIPPED! and I said F**K patents I’m done!!! so I filed bankruptcy to get him of my back! (it was not just him causing me to file bankruptcy though there was also a house I bought to fix and sell but the market crashed as I was fixing it and the home’s value went down from 400k to 240k so it had to go)
But the whole patent proses with this lawyer was one of my worst nightmares! I almost got divorced with my wife, I took away from my family everything those 4 years in order to keep up with those unexpected mad bills!! when I complained to him about the bills and that we where up to 65.000 his answer was (Ohhh! really? we are that much?) if I had a gun in my hands he’d be dead today.
God felt sorry for me at that time and the patent was granted by the uspto! and at least I was happy that I had my patent!… so I decided to give this hairless creep “gangster” the benefit of the doubt, and so I spoke with him and told him that I would take care of this last bill (of 13.000 dollars!) at a later time when I get back on my feet (big mistake, those last minute charges are part of their tactic for someone who’s gone a long way with a patent they do that at the end thinking you will cough up money if you want your patent!)
So I went to develop this tool with a fried of mine who was older and knew a lot around products etc. but there was an unexpected discovery, one of the materials that we needed to make this tool was very expensive! each peace cost 48.00 dollars and this price was if one would order thousands of peaces in China! so I went back to the drawing board to redesign the tool to avoid using that part, and I did it! I replaced that part by changing the design with something that cost less than one dollar. but now I need patenting again! the design changed!
So I go back to rum-nuts and ask him if he wants to file the provisional for this, this time he was more down to earth with the prices and I was flat fee ONLY agreement, he asked for 900 dollars to file the provisional (by the way this is the same tool with just a swamp of that one part and a small design change; but according to him it is a new patent)..
So the provisional is filed and I am thinking that I am all good now, I will start making/selling this tool soon and with the funds everything will be ok; and when the time comes to file the non provisional I’ll be all set financially. well! there is an old saying that says: (when people make plans for the future life laughs at them)
Talking about bad luck, my friend and partner who was planning on investing some money on the project, he was unexpectedly transferred from his company to go work in another state, and his salary was cut down 50% (this was due to the economy’s crash) he went down from making 120k a year to 58k! so he couldn’t stand those changes and decided to leave the country!
I was left by my self, loooong story short, a year later I had to file the non provisional and he asked me for 6.500 dollars, I payed it. again I thought by the time the examiners will start with their BS I would be ok, but that is now and I am not ok, 2 years have gone by and boy have I had bad luck, a year and half ago my mother who was fine with no health issues; suddenly was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 63, so I was fighting my mothers cancer which at the end we lost, work got slower not as it used to, processing the tool’s development is not the easiest thing for me.
And now the patent has come to the end, and there is an office action required by the examiner, and the lawyer says to me he wants 3.000 to respond to the office action (and this is after asking him numerous times HOW MUCH WILL THIS COST…because he tried to do what he did to me the first time by writing to me: Dear Peter let us know if you would like us to prepare a respond… without saying to me how much this respond will cost…the first time I was an idiot and I would say yes go ahead and respond…. and then the bills would be coming in like heavy rain fall)
So now he wants 3.000 to respond AND money from those past wicked charges (meaning from the 13.000 from the first patent) so he is basically using his tactic again now, it is the end and he is thinking I have no choice but to cough up the money. if this isn’t pure gangster tactic I don’t know what is.
This person has received from me all together (with out the 13.000 included) close to 75.000 so far for patenting a little hand tool, and I have gone through hell the way everything went, I am so disgusted at this point with patent lawyers I will never give them another dime. I am ready to abandon this second patent, I am so disgusted with him that even if it was for nickle I will still abandon the patent, I don’t want these people to ever get another penny from me.
And if I ever decide to file for patent ever again it will be abroad, I have lived in another country for 17 years (I am 47) and I have done business with lawyers and I’ll tell you there is nothing to compare, lawyers in other countries are normal kind and very respectful people, they don’t charge arms and legs, not like here where they think they are some special class above others, and we ow them the world for their work.
Next lawyer that I will do business (IF) here in the US will bump in to a big concrete wall, anything I haven’t agreed to pay in writing? (he will get out of the three the longest)
Also if any lawyer asks me for any work on his house the price will be 3-4 times higher than normal (take it or leave it) and I will start advising all coworkers to start pricing same to lawyers. most of them are all already pist with lawyers each one with their own story, there is even a joke going around that says: (what do you call 10 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?) Answer: (A good start!)This joke shows how people are fed-up with lawyers BS. sad…..
Thank you.
I am with SuckerPunched says:
January 14, 2013 at 8:22 pm
What a bunch of CRAP! “Problem client?” GIVE ME A BREAK! “My first inclination is to tell you to pay happily. Lawyers are worth every penny they charge. They deserve to be paid in full and on time!” Could you be anymore arrogant and condescening? Could you be anymore transparent? Now I go to Ken who is a pensioner like my self. There has to be some one who will look at the charges, I cornered my solicitor when he presented me with 2 bills recently when I went to collect a cheque from him for a small claim, these which he said was owed for case 8-10 years ago. Not only could he not provide me with details of what he was billing me for, but he refused to give me a copy of his supposed bills when I threatened to go to another solicitor. The argument got to shouting where upon I told him to hang on to the cheque and informed him that I would go through another solicitor. On this note he started to back track and to my amazement he with drew the aged bills telling me that it wasnt fair to charge me for them as they were old cases. I then asked hold old does a case have to be before he was legally allowed to charge me, he then said 6 years. In my mind he degraded himself by doing this, he then quickly got his secetary to allot me a new cheque, after telling me that this couldnt be done. Sad greedy person in my mind. They do have lawyer tactics people, so stand up for your self, fk the friendship bit, after all is said and done, you are giving them work, they should be grateful on all accounts, keep all this be nice stuff for the man that employs you, and remimer that those who you employ should be as gratefull as you are to your employer. In general after 50 years of using solicitors, they want money, they have learned the skill of extracting it from you, you must make them earn it,question every penny and dont feel in the least bad about it, become a what this man Ethan Stone suggests that you dont become, a constantly griping, haggling and delaying payment client, its your God given right.
I am amazed with most lawyer tactics. However I feel that my current attorney is legit. Without getting into to many details, I tried to go the small claims route that had a $10,000 limit in my state and jurisdiction. The defendant in this case hired an attorney who immediately requested a pre-trial conference. At the pretrial conference, the judge dismissed the case on the grounds that my particular law suit is not in the small claims jurisdiction. Not to be outdone, I retained an attorney in the proper District court who has taken my case on an hourly basis and a retainer fee up front which is common place for my particular case. The amounit of damages being sought is in the 6 figures range. I could not be more pleased. The only wish I would have at this juncture in my case is that my lawyears supporting staff (paralegal and/or legal secretary had the same intensity that my lawyer has displayed.I’m not saying that I disagree with the majority of comments in this forum, I am just praying that I have found a good lawyer which seems to be 10% of the time.
Social Security has laws in place to protect a client regarding overpayment. How does this work with Long Term Disability?
Hello
I want to know if you can give me advice. My lawyer agree with
Fees of $10.000 and $500 per hours , but he send me bills to
For $38.000- , and I know he overcharge me for the work and
I want to fight in court and pay is bill !!
So how do I go about removing him and also do gavrament
Complain about him !! I am ready to fight in court and I will try
Not to pay this bill !!
We own several businesses and not one lawyer that we have ever used have made us feel they were worth all the money we’ve paid, this includes estate/trust attorneys. We have a trust attorney who charges us for work that we didn’t even authorize. We receive a bill in the mail for $2500 because they were accidentally contacted by our bank because we are trying to short sale our home. They were the wrong attorney, our bank should of contacted our BK attorney, but this trust attorney claimed they researched the issue which they agree was not their issue but bill us anyway for trying to determine what issue it was! Ha!
Mr Stone, your advise, “My first inclination is to tell you to pay happily. Lawyers are worth every penny they charge” is a very big red flag!
I am not surprised that the first thing Mr. Stone assumes is that the person’s lawyer asking for advise is a “she”. We own several businesses and not one lawyer that we have ever used have made us feel they were worth all the money we’ve paid, this includes estate/trust attorneys. We have a trust attorney who charges us for work that we didn’t even authorize. We receive a bill in the mail for $2500 because they were accidentally contacted by our bank because we are trying to short sale our home. They were the wrong attorney, our bank should of contacted our BK attorney, but this trust attorney claimed they researched the issue which they agree was not their issue but bill us anyway for trying to determine what issue it was! Ha!
Mr Stone, your advise, “My first inclination is to tell you to pay happily. Lawyers are worth every penny they charge” is a very big red flag!
yes, i do agree, the most hated profession in the world, 95% deserves to go hell.
Being a lawyer for many seems to me like having found a legal way to rob people. What is it they do that really usually warrants the often over $300 per hour I see regularly charged? They read an email consisting of a few lines and its a rounded off charge of $50. Neat trick, I’d like to bill people for having to read work related email too. Other than going elsewhere the clients have little recourse because how can you argue what they did is not worth the exorbitant money they charge or prove it. People are stuck because the legal system is complicated and the attorney is trained how it works and which forms are required. The huge fees often billed though are rarely commensurate with the actual work required especially if it were done efficiently. I advise to try to get a flat quote or fee upfront but there are pitfalls to that approach as well. Hourly rate without constraint will often be like handing a crack addict a blank check. Also make sure when you pay at the end you specify that concludes the fees. I was getting bills for a few hundred here and there for loose end things they forgot to do or having to read some correspondence that came in related to settling an estate years later.
“My first inclination is to tell you to pay happily. Lawyers are worth every penny they charge. They deserve to be paid in full and on time!” -Says the lawyer!
Lawyers has become a legalized criminal brotherhood and are pests for the modern society, see all the commercials at the roadside to help you squeeze someone else for money, you case win a million you get 50,000.- the lawyer get the rest…they are modern criminals abusing all and everything in their greedy business driving up cost for all kind of public services such as insurance, healthcare service, employer’s worker cost, carmakers, small business owners, taxi drivers….etc..etc yes..I am sure the is a very special and extremely hot place for lawyers in hell.
Lawyers are Snakes. Do not trust them.. Give them a set amount of hours and do not let them go over the set amount. Try not to give a retainer as they will false bill you for all that is in the retainer.. Best advice Try not to every hire a lawyer they are snakes.
Take in consideration that no attorney will ever agree that they were paid enough for any task. If they billed their client for 30 hours for 24 hours worth of work the attorney would argue that they should of charged 40 hours for 24 hours and did a favor to their clients. This is the view that Attorney’s have all of them.
Attorneys get paid if they win the case or lose the case so to them there is no rush even when they know their client should settle they want to make as many billable hours as possible redo the Motions to dismiss, redo the Summary Judgment redo and file unnecessary motions. Example the Attorney knew his client should of settled for 20k in the early stages yet he had his client spend 120k before settling for the 20k. The reason for this is because if he settled early on they would have not made the billable hours. If you asked an attorney where the bathroom is in the court house they would give you an answer but say it is legal advise and charge you for a billable hour for telling you where the bathroom is.
I find that lawyers are an evil necessity sometime. I have just received a bill for services, e.g. phone calls, meetings, emails etc., and I am curious as to what the term “But Say”: means on the invoice.
I would not ask for help in this forum, it sounds like it was put together by lawyers and its just a little propaganda machine or conditioning machine to make the public think that what they do is the norm.
Dear Sirs,
I have recently won a social security diability May 25, 2013. My lawyers were Binder & Binder and as per the fee agreement, they were payed $6000.00 for their fees (either 25% or $6000.00) or the lesser of the two. For the second time sense my award, they sent a seven point appeal for an $6000.00 increase over an above the agreed upon fee of $6000.00. A copy of the letter was sent to me December 16, 2013. It was addresses to the Honorable William J. King, Regional Chief Administrative Law Judge at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, Regional Office. Because of the upcoming holidays I was not successful in finding an attorney in what I consider a timely way. I strongly believe that the firm is trying to make a case of my case for several reasons, e.g. point number five is that due to their legal sagacity they were able to successfully win my award money to be $49,010.88.
In their third point, as I was unable to attend the first hearing due to being unable to be reached by phone or address as I was homeless and hospitalized on October 20, 2010. As such, the administrative judge ruled against a favorable decision. In short, I did not know of my court case whatsover, therefore they are claiming that due to their persistance they were able to have the court overturn my unfavorable decision and have the hearing rescheduled. It seems to me that without my presence and under the circumstances, any decent judge would allow me an opportunity to present my case with me in attendance. Binder & Binder claim to have continued to work assiduously on my case in the interim and due to their hard work allowed for my second administrative hearing. In that period, I did not hear a thing from the attorneys until about six months prior to the next hearing on April 25, 2013. In that period, I was requested to gather all of my medical service records for my ten years of honorable service in the Navy and mail them to the attorneys in Orange, Ca. I was also instructed to speak with all of my physicians concerning my social security case in an effort to get a favorable reply when asked. At this juncture, I understand that B & B already have tried to have their fee increased but were turned down. Now, it seems that they have to resort to hyperbole in appealing to Judge King as to the time and great effort on their behalf to win my decision. I am not arguing what they may or may not have done to win my case but I only know that I thought this was settled months ago when I received my Notice of Award. I don’t know where all of that $49000.00 went as I never received a check for that amount. However, I seem to recall that over a period of months I probably received somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000.00? In any event, isn’t the law applicable as stated in the Notice of Award that the fee can not be increased other than for minor things such as mailings, procuring documents and such. All regardless of the size of the award?! Any help or assistance in this case would be deeply appreciated!
V/R,
Michael Bartley
I had a couple of employmentlaw cases that I processed myself. The agency offer to settle. I hired a lawyer to represent me at mediation. He had me visit his office twice a week for threr or four weeks for a couple of hours and then one day a week for two weeks or so. During this time I was bringing him up to speed. I felt he was going over the same information over and over. At times he sat and I would be working putting documents in folders, which I bought;he would be sitting there talking about the same things that I had told him over and over.
I bought supplies: folders, clips, paper clips, ink cartridges, file boxes, and made copies. I think he provided six folders. I continued to work on my cases as though I was representing myself still. I was doing paralegal work; reasearching, puting together evidence, reading documents for conflicting statements, I basically hand him cases that were already processed. The were in order to the point I had my documents in binders with dividers telling what they were. I had worked on my cases for almost four years by my self. This lawyer diffinitely padded his bill-I’m sure of it.
The agency told him at mediation that his bills were excessive. The agency attorneys told him it should not have taken more than forty hours to review the cases and I agree. From mid September to November he wants nearly $40,000.00 dollar, which is radiculous. I worked my butt of on my cases and never stopped even after I hired him. He would tell me I need this information or that information, or I need you come in and put the files together. I would have to research information for him. I have five years education in legal studies with an emphasis in employment law. I know how long it takes me to perform certain task. I know he is padding his bill for many task he claimed he performed. He charged more than three hours at 350.00 hour to complete his fee statement. I asked him about it and he told me they allow him time to put together his fee statement. Who is they that would allow him over 1000.00 to put together a bill. And, if he waits for two months to type the bill up, how am I to believe it; accurate? The time it took to write the information on paper is time he could have take to type his statements in form on the computer eliminating duplication of task.
During the mediation he brought up his bill two or three times. Whenever he is discussing anything to do with the cases his bill comes up immediately. I have worked for lawyers in the past and have never seen one that watse time like this once. I do a pretty darn good job of putting together a case, at least my agency and the EEOC thinks so. I know how long it took me to write a brief or assemble a binder or respond to any e-mail.
I’m not sure if the lawyer is banking on the agency footing the bill or if he is thinking they will negotiate a partial payment and I pay the balance. I do know that I will go to the bar association to request a mediation over the fees if I am asked to pay.
His bill is unbelievable. I think a lot of it is clerical that he would have me do while he sat and watched or he would put a couple of documents in a file and then 3 hrs later ask me a question and talk about his fees. He deserves to be paid for approximately forty hours or $12,000.00 to $15,000.00 tops. He went to mediation for about three hours and didn’t do that great a job. He didn’t do anything we had discussed, he was fumbling through a folder for documents, he made an issue of my education, which was never in question, and never put any of the damaging information out there that would have raised the stakes. I’m not one for putting everything on the table at once, but I beleive in giving a little of the unknown to the other side to garner a response that I can use. He was not that effective. I hope he doesn’t try to sell me out to the agency because I am poised to request a mediation before the bar association regarding his fees. The agency is in agreement that he padded his bill. I know he did.
The same thing happened to me years ago. I hired a lawyer to go to mediation. The mediation broke down, I walked out. The case went before a judge. The attorney submitted a bill for $29,000.00 and had done hardly anything. It was apparent that I had processed my own cases so the judge didn’t entertain the inflated bill. My lawyer got nothing.
Hi,
‘My first inclination is to tell you to pay happily. Lawyers are worth every penny they charge. They deserve to be paid in full and on time!
That’s not very helpful, however.’
If you really want to provide good advice, why even make such a flippant comment such as this. It’s quite irresponsible and reflects badly on the profession. Your first inclination may be one to try and be ‘funny’, but it really isn’t. I wonder if you see the funny side of a comment such as this if you’ve been ripped off. Sure, a few bad lawyers don’t represent the norm, but seriously, take care of what you say.
What really is the problem is time billing. Lawyers are in a unique position to bill to purely think and be intimidating enough never to be challenged, however soft and cuddly the bedside manner is. A lay client would never feel comfortable to raise a challenge against their lawyer as they are employing them in the first instance to be challenging to opponents. If problems occur, especially in billing, you’ll find a client has no more cash (and effort) to bring the lawyer to task…they’ve taken all of the cash, want to get paid and can easily hold the client to ransom without recourse. Don’t forget, most often, clients that need lawyers in most non transactional (ie ignore basic conveyancing for instance) are in a very vulnerable and stressed state of mind. One that can easily be taken advantage of by a firm whether intentional or not.
The whole system is totally unfair and there is no incentive to stop bad practice on a low level. It isn’t the fault of most lawyers, it’s purely the situation that causes the issue.
‘ Legal work always costs more than you think it should… ‘
Seriously my friend, you are a joke.
Be mindful about how you charge and sleep well.
Most lawyers simply take advantage of any situation they can and abuse the legal system. They know you dont have the time or money to pursue them legally for over charging. It is a license to steal. They do the same thing contractors do when paid by the hour. Excessive add on fees and you have no choice but either pay or they sue you.
It’s a complete rip off. get it in writing up front is all you can really do and they still figure out a way to rip you off.
Good luck