$400 an hour

berzerker5000 · 2024-08-23T12:17:34+00:00

Mine was very judicious with charging his time. At $350/hr. Most of the work was billed at the paralegal rate which was more like 100-125/hr. Trial and mediation days were all lawyer rate but I only had two and a half days like that.

SteveTses · 2024-08-23T11:24:40+00:00

We decided to hire a mediator, I paid $2,000, and in the middle of it, she decided to hire a lawyer in addition.

Cost me another $5,000 since these lawyers work on retainers.

I ended up paying $10,000 for the divorce.

joely276 · 2024-08-22T15:22:29+00:00

400 a hour in lawyer language equates to

2.5 k a week 10k a month And a bloody expensive divorce.

ExcellentAd7477 · 2024-08-22T14:57:54+00:00

Yeah but at the end it’s all decided by the judge. The lawyers make sense if you know both of you can agree. If you get a spouse that says no to anything - your lawyers are useless

alexmixer · 2024-08-22T04:27:26+00:00

Wow I was mad at $230 and hr

GinnjaNinnja · 2024-08-22T02:16:40+00:00

I’m thankful for an amicable divorce. Spent about $250 online.

SelectionNo3078 · 2024-08-22T02:14:41+00:00

Our collaborative divorce is going to end up costing nearly $30k twice the worst possible amount they quoted

And no one did any work other than charging me for phone calls and emails trying to get updates

My paralegal said she has 70 cases

No wonder it was such a poor experience

70 cases for one lawyer with two assistants

It’s all over on Friday.

2.5 years after I moved out and 14 months after we started the real process

Cuz_HVAC · 2024-08-22T01:14:36+00:00

I did the same thing. Spent over 150k in legal fees. Lost my business, my house, my kids and my dog. Not so much as a family photo to prove 20 years was real. This is not the way

mauimikes · 2024-08-22T01:12:23+00:00

I don’t trust lawyers one bit. For every “honest lawyer” there are 10 douchebags that will drag out divorces and/or keep them as contested as possible to keep racking up the fees.

Extremely corrupt racket

Boomhower113 · 2024-08-21T22:09:17+00:00

Check her work before it goes out. Luckily, I work in a field where I deal with a lot of contracts and legal documents, so get how to draft and edit them. And I’ve done a lot of both in this process.

But, even if you don’t, remember that she’s got 10 other clients and you are watching your case much closer than she is. You will pick up on things she forgot to include. Believe me.

Finally, your lawyer isn’t your therapist. She’ll gladly listen to you whine for an hour for $400 and get nothing done.

Go kick ass.

Apollo_9238 · 2024-08-21T22:07:28+00:00

Just got mine $200 /hr $2,500 retainer..he has an office but works remote to save costs. One man operation...

Ancient-Homework7557 · 2024-08-21T21:42:11+00:00

I wish mine was $400 per hour.

samk002001 · 2024-08-21T21:00:38+00:00

Damn! Mind was $280/hr back in 2020 with a $3k retainer. Read the book “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss, and use his techniques to draw a conclusion with your stbxw. Know what you want like, child custody (best case scenario is 50/50, don’t dream of 100%), alimony payments, how to split properties, etc. If you both can come to a conclusion, just tell your lawyer what you want in the decree.

Feisty_Elderberry_96 · 2024-08-21T20:04:25+00:00

I paid $350 an hour with a $5k retainer. I spent about $15k on my lawyer and had the "pleasure" of paying my ex's fees. If you're looking for advice, here's some:

-Figure out exactly what you want custody wise. And what youre willing to bend on and what you won't bend on..

-Figure out how much money you have to spend.

-Do not use your lawyer to "bounce" questions off of.

-Do not play the lawyer game of sending and responding to every little proposal. Most divorces are decided the day before the trial.

-Do not use your lawyer as a therapist- they aren't your friend.

-Do ask all of your legal questions for your jurisdiction -- IE, how is child support determined, alimony and even custody if you can't come to an agreement.

-Manage your case. Get you case #, trial date, etc. from your county clerk. Do not rely on your lawyer for anything you can do yourself.

Good luck!

FormerDog · 2024-08-21T19:24:12+00:00

$750 an hour for the primary. $600 an hour for the secondary. They both are on every call.

I pushed so hard for a mediator but my ex decided we’re fighting, so I went with the best. Fuck I hope it’s worth it.

Theedon · 2024-08-21T18:52:43+00:00

8nuears ago, $285 an hour, was warned to walk in the court room, would be $10k. Settled in the cafeteria. Over all might have been $8k or $10k in billable hours and other fees.

david10277 · 2024-08-21T18:40:09+00:00

I'm paid $450 per hour

10k retainer

Mine took 2yrs..

All the way thru meditation

85k in total

iSurvivedltd · 2024-08-21T18:07:14+00:00

Lawyers and Insurance are the two biggest crooks on the planet.

Do as much work on your own as possible

Old-Macaroon8148 · 2024-08-21T17:59:02+00:00

My advice is to do as much of the work as possible yourself. Google is your friend. If you’re fighting over money tell them you’ll look through the statements yourself etc.

Don’t ask her a single question you can’t figure out for yourself.

Lesson learned after getting billed $15 for my lawyer to respond “you too” to a “have a good evening” email.

$400/hr goes quick I blew through my $5k retainer before we even finished discovery.

tempussecundus · 2024-08-21T17:40:23+00:00

I'm paying $350 an hour but he honestly does everything he can to save money, including contacting me when needed and doing our best to avoid court as much as possible.

pk2at · 2024-08-21T17:38:20+00:00

Most likely a waste of money. They don't know or won't tell you a single trick to save money or gain custody

Ark161 · 2024-08-21T17:36:06+00:00

This makes me grateful that even though I am getting shafted in some ways in my divorce, we are mostly amicable and mutually want to avoid that bullshittery.

Apprehensive-Cost496 · 2024-08-21T17:27:52+00:00

I did my research on here as I was going through my ordeal. My lawyer was also in the neighborhood but she was VERY competent and wasted no time in going through the drive through fast lane to get me divorced.

Only advice I can get is if you call or send emails, make out a list of 5-7 things and try and lump things together in one communication. Also, if your state is a 50/50 type thing, aim for custody first (if you have kids) and get that nailed down before discussing assets. From there, assets should simply be a split from the time of marriage to the divorce. My rule of thumb was short term loss was better than long term pain so if you can sacrifice something to get out sooner, it may be worth it. Always think how will this affect me 5/10/15 years from now. Good luck!

UglyDude1987 · 2024-08-21T17:21:58+00:00

My first one was $480. I didn't see the value. Kept missing deadlines for submission even thought I had sent the things months ago. Kept going over old things again that I already explained to them. Bill got racked up very quickly especially when she had her paralegals in meetings too who charged another $150 an hour.

Got another attorney for $250 an hour. He also wasn't great but no worse than the $480 one.

My experience is that divorce attorneys seem very incompetent at their job.

xeskind30 · 2024-08-21T17:21:02+00:00

Yeah, that's about right.

DistributionSpirited · 2024-08-21T17:17:41+00:00

Shit mine was 350 but that was 3 years ago

northdakotact · 2024-08-21T17:03:21+00:00

It's an industry that creates an enormous amount of wealth, employees many people and adds considerably to the GDP. Watch the movie divorce corp.

Title	$400 an hour
Author	jog515
Upvotes	37
Comments	78
Date	August 21, 2024 4:56 PM UTC (1 year ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1exus99/400_an_hour/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/400-an-hour.1527915 https://theredarchive.com/post/1527915

Comments