Attorney's Fees: Somebody Is Gonna' Pay - By: Lucille Uttermohlen

Attorneys are about as well loved as ants at a picnic. Unlike those unwelcome protein additions to your potato salad, however, I would like to think members of my profession can be useful. There are rules and laws that are good to know if you are on the business end of a court proceeding.

Judges are not patient with people who waste their time with information that doesn't help them make a decision. A lawyer can help you present the facts and arguments a judge is likely to take seriously.However, if you are forced to pay attorney's fees for the other side, you may prefer the ants.

You may wonder what attorneys do, as you watch your council park his BMW next to your spouses lawyers Lexas. There certainly has to be a reason for someone to charge up to $300 an hour for their services. A beach house in Palm Springs and a private jet may explain where some of the money went. However, for most of us, there are genuine expenses we have to meet before we can even begin to make a living from this profession.

Obviously, to represent clients we have to have a place to meet them. Attorneys offices very in luxury. The thick carpet and leather chairs in some places are the envy of those of us who buy our office equipment and furniture at Sam's Club. Air conditioning and heat are considered by most people to be necessary. Paralegals and secretaries have to be paid. You would not want a lawyer who did not maintain a current legal research service anymore then you would want a surgeon whose scalpel was sharpened on his home electric can opener.

I am impressed with the fees some of my colleagues get. Unless I know what they had to do to represent the client, I cannot say that they didn't deserve the money. Amounts like the $69,000 attorney payment at issue in one case I read, would strike me and most of the lawyers I know as mighty impressive.

In the United States, people generally pay their own legal expenses. However divorce law in most states gives the court the authority to make one of the spouses pay both of the parties' fees and costs if he / she makes more money. If one of the parties makes the divorce take longer for no good reason, he or she can also be made to pay the additional fees for both sides. Failing to provide information when asked, not being prepared for hearings, and not following court orders can cost the other side additional attorney's fees, and can be charged to the person who caused the expense. This is true in all states.

You can take steps to cut the amount of money you pay in legal fees. When you are asked for documents, such as tax returns, titles, bankstatements, financial information and the like, provide them as quickly as you can. It costs more to pay lawyers to obtain these documents directly from the bank or IRS. If you need expert opinions, you and your spouse should split the cost of one expert, rather then hire two. One house appraiser or custody evaluator should be enough to give good information to the court. Go see the expert together so that you can each assure yourselves that he / she won't take sides against one of you. Otherwise, you may pay two lawyers to mediate a fight between the two experts in court. As you can imagine, that can get very expensive very quickly.

Don't schedule unnecessary consultations with your lawyer, or call his or her office every time your spouse does something annoying. Often, there is nothing he / she can do to help you, but you will be charged for the time. Just make a list of your concerns and review it with your attorney when you are preparing for court, or already have a consultation scheduled.

Be open minded in your negotiations. Don't fight over items like furniture, dishes, appliances or linens if you can help it. In the long run, it will probably be cheaper to replace these items than it is to pay an attorney to go after them for you. An old car, lawn tractor or Rototiller may seem costly to replace, but most of the time, paying a lawyer to try to get these items will be more expensive.

Remember, unless the other side concedes it, or the judge orders it, you may not be successful in winning it. Even if the judge says you can have it, you may find that it has been sold, lost or destroyed before you can collect it. The only way you can redress the situation is to go back to court. Even if you can prove what your spouse did with it, the judge isn't likely to be able to compensate you adequately for your trouble. You have to decide what you really want. Is the item irreplaceable, or are you just loathed to let your spouse have it?

The decision of whether or not to award attorney's fees is up to the court. For this reason, I, like many of my colleagues am not willing to represent you for free in the hope that a judge will make someone pay me at a later date.Even if fees are awarded, collecting them from an unwilling ex-spouse can take much more of a lawyer's time. Time, and knowledge, are the only things a lawyer has to sell, and thus we don't lightly use these valuable commodities on activities that don't help us make a living.

New lawyers and legal clinics may be able to give you the help you need at an affordable cost. There are also many online services that for little or no money can help you represent yourself. If your case is complicated, and the issues are important, however, you may have to reconcile yourself to bringing enough potato salad to the picnic to satisfy the hungry ants.

About the Author

Lucille Uttermohlen has been a family law attorney for 27 years. Her specialties include divorce, paternity, guardianship, adoption, probate and criminal law. For a free ebook about the divorce process, visit Lucille at http://www.couple-or-not.com

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Lucille-Uttermohlen/51774

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