Suggestions for Reducing Fees

Divorce often comes at a time when a family is going through a financial, as well as an emotional crisis. Sometimes the emotional crisis can precipitate the financial one further by upping the attorney fees and costs expended. For example, if a spouse is vindictive, or just plain upset, that one spouse can refuse to negotiate in good faith, or act in such a way as to provoke numerous court appearances or otherwise delay the proceedings.

Obviously, this would be beyond your control, and we would have to cope the best we could through the mechanisms provided by the court. Frankly, it can be expensive and wearying. However, you, as my client, are capable of reducing fees by following some of these simple rules:

Remember the high cost of telephone calls. Always call the person whose billing rate is most appropriate for the matter. As a general rule, call the paralegal assigned to your case first. If legal advice or intervention is needed immediately, he or she is trained to recognize it and will get my attention much faster than a message to call back, which I might not find until the next morning when I spend the previous day in court. Often times, the paralegal can handle the problem right then and there. If you wish information on status of service or filing of papers, the paralegals have primary responsibility for these matters. If the matter requires my personal intervention, they will see to it. Billing questions should be directed to the accounting department.

Finally, if you merely wish to leave some information such as an address or telephone number that I have requested, it is best that you leave the message with the paralegal. If I have any questions or comments about any message that you leave, please rest assured that I would call you back as soon as possible.

Remember that our services are primarily legal. Certainly, unless I understand the underlining nature of your interaction with your spouse, I cannot represent you as well as I might. Also, recognizing that family law matters, especially those involved in dissolution, represent one of the most stressful times of a person's life, it is in your best legal interest that you are coping with these stresses. Unless you are thinking clearly, you may be inclined to make some decisions on settling or not settling the case, which will ultimately be extremely costly to you. For that reason, I will spend some time with you exploring this interaction, especially at the beginning of your case. From what you tell me, I may be able to point out some of the "games" that are being played and how to avoid being one of the players. (Highly recommended is "Games People Play", a book by Eric Berne). However, at some particular point, my continual listening to your experiences will fail to generate a return worth the added costs that will appear on your monthly statement.

Participate as effectively as you can in your own case. Your time is likely to be less expensive to you than ours. Therefore, we will request that you obtain as much of the information and documents for your case as possible, consistent with its proper and expeditious handling. For example we may send you a long set of questions called "Interrogatories" which the other party is legally entitled to request. It may mean hours of painstaking research through your records. It is our responsibility to see that the information asked for is supplied; however, if we have to do the actual work and "answer" the questions for you, your case will become extremely costly. Therefore, it is important that your give as much assistance as we request.

Organize and file all of the paper involved in your case. We will be sending you copies of all correspondence and pleadings filed in your case. It becomes extremely helpful in the future if your place them all in a notebook in the order that they are sent to you. This way the client and the attorney can refer to the same documents during phone consultations and both will be on the same wavelength when settlement negotiations are attempted.

Organize your questions and concerns by writing them down as you think of them so that they may all be discussed at one time rather than on separate occasions. Remember that you are charged a minimum of .2 of an hour for any telephone call, or other contact on your case. Make such contact as fruitful as possible by knowing your questions in advance.

Think positively towards the settlement of your case. I can hardly remember a case where the husband and wife had the same memory as to the understandings with respect to their acquisition of assets and numerous other matters. As a result of these many disputes regarding fact, and as a result of other disputes as to what the law is in these areas, I cannot give you percentages of probability of outcomes, nor can I guarantee any single result in any one case. For that reason and because a judge at the trial can often dispose of a case in such a way as to enrich the Internal Revenue Service rather than the parties, it is almost always best to settle the case if one can obtain a reasonably fair settlement. Therefore, as soon as we have enough information to understand what is at issue in a case, I will commence settlement attempts with the opposing counsel (only with your authority, of course).