retainer fee gone?

upvotersfortruth · 2022-08-19T02:29:14+00:00

Don't communicate with your lawyer through email. Every email you send they are billing you 10-15 minutes for a simple reply. What I found to work well is anytime you have a question WRITE IT DOWN in a notebook. Then, once a week schedule a telephone conference with your attorney and get al of your questions answered at one time. This means you'll pay for .5 hours instead of 5 hours.

FallacyOfAverages · 2022-08-18T22:36:13+00:00

Ask for the billing statement and see where it went.

jlmsquared · 2022-08-19T00:29:24+00:00

My divorce cost about $60k over 7 months. Lawyers are expensive but worth every penny.

Greadle · 2022-08-19T00:51:15+00:00

The “family law” business is setup to extract money from people. It should be criminal to charge while intentionally creating strife and more reasons to bill. If 2 people can get married without lawyers they can figure out how to divorce without them.

RxRobb · 2022-08-19T04:52:55+00:00

My current divorce is at over 102k in legal fees . I offered 50/50 everything and she wants it all my businesses everything .

EmCee311 · 2022-08-18T22:03:44+00:00

Unfortunately not, sorry you’re here brother.

You need to list the most important things to you and have your attorney focus on only those things. You’re gonna lose a bit, but what can you not bend on? I took a hit on a few things because the end result was that the money I woulda settled on woulda been less than what I had to pay the lawyer to go after it. It’s sucks but lawyers make it out best in divorces, remember that.

yeldellmedia · 2022-08-19T11:58:05+00:00

Bro 4k is not much relatively… i was 85k in the hole with mine by time of trial

AlbumSixForever · 2022-08-18T22:47:22+00:00

Fuck, I’m going to stop emailing my attorney. This is a waking nightmare. I paid 5k and mediation is in a month. At this point I’m wishing my wife and I would’ve gone to mediation.

Dwro1234 · 2022-08-18T23:55:18+00:00

Just ask for an itemized invoice from them. Then you'll know where the money went.

Ptsdveterannavy · 2022-08-19T02:12:31+00:00

Paid the same 4k, a year to this month and the only thing my Attorney (2nd btw)can tell me is that, an agreement was made on mediation.... Straight bull. I respectfully thank the bro who said in this, avoid mediation a billing sink hole..... I'm divorced (2yrs), just want to modify Custody and Child Support here in Texas...😡

upvotersfortruth · 2022-08-19T02:22:49+00:00

16 hours at 250, that's a substantial amount of work in two weeks on a file but not crazy. Are you the petitioner? Is there a case pending? Get the itemized statement, ask what their billing procedures are, if you see anything that looks out of line - ask! Lawyers are/should never be shy to discuss and answer any questions about fees. Often wonder why clients avoid these conversations.

Freefaller6 · 2022-08-19T11:25:09+00:00

I am $35k in and over a year with no progress. I finally took the reins and have been negotiating with my wife and telling my attorney what to do. They’re a fucking joke.

And have fun on your statements every months when you get charges for color xerox copies. What the fuck is that?

HalseyPlzHoldMeDown · 2022-08-19T12:08:35+00:00

If you’re the plaintiff/petitioner, your lawyer probably spent somewhere around 2 hours for initial meeting, 3 hours drafting pleadings, another 1 in communication with you to ensure they’re correct. So, 6 hours on just the basics. If you had your attorney write a letter to your spouse or negotiate in any way, that can pile up quick. Like others have said, emails and phone calls with your attorney add up quick because we charge .25 of an hour even if you only call us for a few minutes.

My advice, and this is totally dependent on how reasonable your spouse is— really think about how much money a goal is worth to you. Let’s say you and your spouse are fighting over a $10,000 investment she has, so your half would be $5000 if you win. Well, how much would you risk paying to get that $5k? If you have your lawyer work 10 hours to get it for you (negotiations, reviewing documents, drafting documents, etc) you’ve probably gotten close to spending that much.

My personal opinion after seeing so many people go through this, is that it’s better to be done than be right. Pick battles that are worth it, and don’t let emotional goals take the reins.

Small-University-875 · 2022-08-19T13:52:48+00:00

Sounds like you're getting hosed...

I paid my $3k retainer fee a month ago and I've been getting statements from them, my balance is still around $1800.

RideATX · 2022-08-19T13:57:55+00:00

You have to manage your lawyer... I told mine in no uncertain terms, do not look at an email, do not talk on the phone or do anything regarding my case unless I review it first and give the authorization in writing. He wasn't happy about it, but I saved 10's of thousands of dollars no responding to her lawyers BS.

2022-08-19T08:17:20+00:00

Oh this is yet another scam that’s been going on

My brother paid around 15k before the first court hearing

All life’s saving…wasted

Data_Fan · 2022-08-19T12:54:19+00:00

MartyMcFly7 · 2022-08-19T15:49:00+00:00

I've never seen so much money go out the window than when I got divorced. Over $80,000 between the ex and I over 2.5 years. But $4000 for 2 weeks does seem high. But depending on his rate, it may only represent a couple of days' worth of work.

derelictherds · 2022-08-21T23:19:49+00:00

I once knew a lawyer who'd bill for time spent thinking about a case while sitting on the shitter or taking a shower. Request an itemized list of costs from your attorney.

AffectionateAd6060 · 2022-08-22T11:56:49+00:00

a good lawyer isn't cheap and a cheap lawyer isn't good but irregardless 95 percent of them aren't working a divorce case for less than 5k

Title	retainer fee gone?
Author	Deep_Geologist_804
Upvotes	12
Comments	40
Date	August 18, 2022 9:56 PM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/wrw2sh/retainer_fee_gone/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/retainer-fee-gone.1128906 https://theredarchive.com/post/1128906

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