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Lawyers have at least seven years of post-high school education (four years of college and three years of law school). For recent graduates, educational costs could have been as high as $120,000. The lawyer is recouping that investment. |
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Finally, lawyers charge what the traffic will bear. Put simply, clients are ready and willing to pay them these high fees. As more attorneys enter the field, billing practices are beginning to change, and fees are coming down in some areas. But until that happens in more significant numbers, remember that you will need to pay your lawyer at the current market rateif you want her to work for you at all. |
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How Matrimonial Lawyers Charge |
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Many lawyers charge an hourly rate and bill you for every hour worked. If Paula Smith's rate is $150 an hour and she does ten hours of work for you, you'll get a bill for $1,500. It can be pretty straightforward. |
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Most lawyers want some payment up front. That fee is called a retainer. The amount will vary depending on where you live, your specific case, and the lawyer's hourly rate. In the New York City area, some matrimonial attorneys charge as much as a $7,500 to $10,000 retainer. In other states, some lawyers charge at least $25,000. (That's not the bad newsyou'll probably spend much more than that for a protracted case!) |
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After you pay the retainer, your lawyer subtracts his hourly rate from what you've paid for each hour worked, until the case is over or he uses up your retainer, whichever happens first. If your lawyer has used up your retainer, you'll start getting bills. Some lawyers will want a new retainer. Others might simply bill you on a weekly or monthly basis for work actually performed. Some lawyers will require replenishment of the retainer or a cushion to be maintained in the trust account until case end. |
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Wait a minute, you might be thinking, doesn't the hourly billing rate system encourage the lawyer to drag out my case to earn more money? |
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Although this practice might seem easy to accomplish, within the profession it is considered unethical for a lawyer to deliberately drag out (churn, as lawyers might say) a case. |
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Another deterrent is that when a case drags on, lawyers can lose clients, or clients will not be able to afford to pay any longer. It might be possible under these circumstances that the lawyer would not collect everything he's owed. Whatever is not collected is written off, and in effect, |
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