Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce - Emily Doskow [54]
• Do you know my spouse's lawyer? Have you worked on cases with the lawyer before? Would you say you have a good relationship?
• What do you think your reputation is among other family law lawyers?
• What do you think is the likely outcome of the custody dispute (or dispute over the home buyout or whatever) that my spouse and I are having?
• What is your opinion about arbitration? Are you experienced in taking divorce cases to arbitration?
• Are you able to estimate how much I'm going to pay in attorneys' fees? What about expenses of the case?
• Will we have a close working relationship, where you accept my input on strategic decisions like when to file a motion or how much support to ask for?
• Have you ever been disciplined by the state bar? What were the circumstances?
• Have I forgotten to ask anything? What else can you tell me about yourself or your practice?
Paying the Lawyer
If you are going the contested route, get out your checkbook.
The Retainer
Virtually all divorce lawyers ask you to pay a "retainer" or deposit when you hire them. The retainer is your first payment toward the fees that you will owe as the case goes along.
The amount of the retainer depends on the lawyer's hourly rate, common practice in your area, and whether the lawyer thinks you might be able to collect some fees from your spouse during the divorce. Because you are anticipating litigation, the lawyer will expect to put in a significant number of hours-and pretty much every divorce lawyer charges by the hour. Many lawyers ask for $10,000 to $15,000 up front. If the lawyer charges $250 per hour, $10,000 will last only 40 hours, a relatively short time given the legal work the lawyer will do. And $250 is an average. If you live in a metropolitan area and your lawyer is a specialist, you could pay up to twice that.
The retainer goes into the lawyer's trust account, and the lawyer withdraws it as the fees are earned. In other words, lawyers pay themselves with money from their trust accounts. You should get a bill every month itemizing the time that the lawyer has spent, listing any expenses that have been incurred on your case, and giving an accounting of how much the lawyer paid to the law office and how much of your retainer is left in the trust account. When the money gets low, the lawyer will probably ask you for more. Many lawyers now accept credit card payments.
Lawyers are subject to very strict ethical rules that control how they must deal with trust accounts, which contain money that isn't theirs. You are always entitled to know how much of your money is available to pay fees.
The Fee Agreement
The lawyer should give you a fee agreement before you write your first check for the retainer. It should spell out the terms of your relationship and cover, among other things, the following issues:
Hourly rate. The contract should state the lawyer's hourly fee and the rates of anyone else who might work on your case. You may, for example, be asked to pay for the time of a paralegal who works for the lawyer. The hourly rate for a paralegal or less-experienced lawyer in the firm should be significantly lower than that of the lawyer in charge. Some lawyers charge a higher hourly rate for time actually spent in the courtroom during trial.
Billing practices. Check how often the lawyer will hill you, how quickly you'll he expected to pay, and what level of detail you'll get on your bill about the work that's being done on your case. Ask to see a sample bill to see whether the details look adequate to you.
Expenses. In addition to the hourly charges, you may be charged for expenses such as copying, postage, or fax filing fees. Make sure those charges are spelled out in the agreement and that the agreement limits what you are required to pay for them. You might want to ask for a clause