While it may seem like unethical behavior to you, it is possible that the problem you are having with your lawyer is better described as a fee dispute. It could be argued that everyone is in a fee dispute with their lawyer because they charge so much money! All money jokes about lawyers aside, fee disputes are different from ethics complaints, although they may be made to the same agency or bar association.
What are some of the reasons that you may have a fee dispute? The most common one is that you have paid your lawyer up front and, in the end, you don’t feel that the attorney “earned” all the money you paid, particularly if you are paying an attorney by the hour. Attorneys usually ask for a portion of their fees at the time you hire them. You need to be sure that you understand how this initial “retainer” is to be handled by the attorney. The retainer agreement should state if the initial deposit of money is “refundable” or “non-refundable.” Usually, lawyers bill against the initial retainer. For example, the lawyer charges $300 per hour for their services; you pay an initial retainer of $3,000.00; they work “against the retainer,” keeping track of all of their time and any billable expenses, until they use up the $3,000.00. Then you have to deposit more money on your account. See “I Have A Lawyer On Retainer” for more discussion about retainer agreements.
The bottom line is this — if you think you have been overcharged for the services provided (or not provided, as the case may be), you should first try to resolve the dispute with your attorney. I recommend doing these things in writing, especially if you are unable to resolve it with a simple conversation. If you do try to solve the problem in a discussion, make notes about the date, time and important points for your own records, just in case things don’t go well. If you are unable to resolve the issue and you feel you are owed money by a lawyer who will not give it to you, it may be time for a Fee Dispute.
Like ethics complaints, Fee Disputes are filed with the organization governing attorney licenses in your state. If they agree that you have a dispute, they will contact the lawyer with your concerns. If the problem is not resolved with a letter, they may schedule a hearing where you will have a chance to state your case. The lawyer may also be present. The hearing will probably be before a panel made up of other attorneys and possibly a member of the community (non-lawyer). Sometimes, if the amount of money in dispute is small, the case will be reviewed by just one person. A final determination will be made and hopefully, if you are owed money, the attorney will then pay you.
Or maybe they won’t. Most state bar associations have Client Security Funds to help out when the lawyer doesn’t pay (the attorney goes out of business or declares bankruptcy, for example). The Client Security Fund program will be discussed another day. And we will have further discussions about fees and fee disputes in the future as well. You work hard for your money and you want to be sure that your lawyer works hard for the money you worked hard for!
I have an interesting situation, which my attorney describes as a “fee dispute” and I see as an extortion attempt.
Simply put, my attorney was on contingency. The case settled and has settlement payments in installments. (The matter won’t be officially dismissed until all payments finish).
The lawyer gets fired, after the settlement but before dismissal, and now claims attorney fees based on hourly (quantum meruit) instead of contingency. Hourly fees being more than 100% more than the contingency.
Is this a “fee dispute”? Have ever come across anything like this in your experience?
As you know, I cannot give legal advice as I am not an attorney. I would ask you if the attorney has taken ANY fees at all? What happened at the time the case was “settled”? Who are the settlement payments being paid to? Did you fire the lawyer and why? Did you have a retainer agreement that dealt with the fee structure changing from contingency to hourly if the lawyer was dismissed? When you say that the lawyer is “claiming” hourly fees, how is that being done, i.e., is he sending you a bill or refusing to pay you your portion? With some more information, we might be able to get a little further with this problem. All this having been said, I would say that this does sound like a fee dispute — you may feel like it’s extortion, but that’s the way we feel about our lawyers a lot of the time! If you cannot resolve this disagreement, it would be wise to look into filing a fee dispute with the governing body for attorneys in your state. The more documentation you have, the better.