Just because you pay an exorbitant amount for your attorney fees, this does not mean that you have a better attorney, it simply means you have a more expensive attorney and one that has marketed themselves into a community that assumes the more I pay for something the better it is. Many times I go to court and listen to attorneys argue for attorney fees in amounts in excess of thirty thousand dollars or more.
Attorney Fees
Many times I have clients on a post divorce action that speak of being financially ruined by the money still owed to an attorney, the attorney they are not using for the action they came to me about. You see when you are dealing with a domestic matter such as divorce most attorneys have a fairly good idea of what the result will be and how they are going to get there, and that is the problem, how are we going to get there. I have had many cases in which it is obvious that the other side is not going to get custody for a multitude of reasons and the issues are glaringly apparent, yet I was forced to litigate for months and sometimes years while they extended the discovery period, demanded a multitude of depositions and filed dozens of motions. Why? Partly because they were not professional enough to guide their client to a rational position and tell them what they may not want to hear, but many times it is the system we have to resolve domestic matters through litigation and the manner this litigation is billed.
If you could make $300.00 an hour for a job or you took $5,000.00 to perform a job, which job would you have an incentive to complete more quickly and how motivated would you be to get the client the relief they sought. It amazes me when I deal with those attorneys mentioned above seeking 30, 40 or 50 thousand dollars and my client receives a better result for $5,000.00. Of course, they will claim you get what you pay for and what is not discussed is that all attorneys are under and ethical duty to provide the best professional service possible regardless of what they take for those services. A divorce is not worth mortgaging your financial life away, and no matter how much you spend on legal fees you are not going to feel vindicated but you will feel foolish, especially when you fail to pay those attorney fees and the person who fought so valiantly for you fights against you just as valiantly to collect all of those fees.
So, question what you are purchasing, ask why your are paying for services and what the recommendations of an attorney will entail, achieve and cost. Be informed and always focus on the result you wish to achieve and the reality of that result; and beyond all else do not break the bank to get there as the only one smiling at the end of a domestic matter are the attorneys.
