QUESTION
My divorce attorney failed to inform me the retainer had been depleated.
Asked on Jul 17th, 2015 on Divorce - New York
More details to this question:
I am ready to settle and sign the divorce agreement. At the last hour, my attorney dropped a bomb that he was going to ask for and additional $7500. In seven months he never sent me a bill. When asked via email in May, it was never done. Now in July he is trying to negotiate more money and wrote to me in an email that it was a bargain to pay a total of $12,500 based on the size of our estate. When I asked how is the size of our estate relevant to his legal fees, he never replied. I also asked why did he not inform me that more money was needed within reasonable amount of time. I am stuck with an attorney that is not replying to emails, text or calls. What can I do at this point, as I am ready to sign nad get this done?
2 ANSWERS
By rule you must receive an itemized bill not less than every 60 days. If you were not billed for more than 60 days you do not have to pay any charges that are older than 60 days. Your lawyer knows this.
Answered on Jul 17th, 2015 at 12:53 PM
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You have the right to ask your attorney to provide an accounting of how he invoiced you for the initial retainer. Retainers are generally despoits, not flat fees for work, so if he expended more time on your case then he needs to account for that time and invoice you. You have the right to fire your lawyer and get a new lawyer or try and represent yourself (representing yourself may not be in your best interest and switching may cause delays).
On a positive note, getting a contested divorce case resolved in 7 months is a good thing, as many New York divorces drag on much longer. If you are close to being finished, it may be better (ie. cheaper/faster) to keep pressing your lawyer to listen to what you want and settle the case. Also, spouses in a divorce are usually permitted to talk -- provided there is no court order preventing you from talking to your spouse, tell them you want to settle. This way your spouse can tell his/her lawyer and they can press your lawyer too.
Good luck!
Answered on Jul 17th, 2015 at 12:18 PM