Legal Fees (Assorted Topics)

There is hundreds of cases in the usa that lawyers over charged and had fees reduced with arbitration or a follow up law suit. Are most cases are settled without public disclosure? Do we have that right to challenge fees on an individual bases once the court approves them?

Bills, Bills, Bills
Many attorneys often skirt the edges of legal ethics when it comes to sending out legal bills. A normal bill could look something like this:

50 hours spent on case XYZ at $400 an hour

You owe: $20,000

Please pay immediately

However, you deserve to know what your attorney spent his time working on your case.

Carefully look at your bill. If you receive a bill that looks like the one above, you should demand an itemized accounting of all the time that your attorney spent on your case. Where exactly did those 50 hours go? If your attorney claims that he wrote a letter to opposing counsel for 4 hours, and the letter turned out to be 2 paragraphs long, you may want to seriously question your attorney's time management.

In addition, you should also compare your bill to the fee agreement that you and your attorney agreed on at the beginning of your representation. Be sure that your attorney is not charging, or over charging you for any items that were not listed in the fee agreement.

If your lawyer acted badly, don't pay the bill. If you feel like your attorney was negligent or engaged in malpractice, be sure not to pay him or her any money until the other dispute is settled. Likewise, if you feel that the bill is outrageous or that fees were included that should not have been, be sure to discuss these points with your attorney before handing over any payment.

Arbitration
There are times when disputes between you and your attorney just cannot be handled without some intervention. If you feel that you are in this situation, you may want to consider going to arbitration before heading to court. Arbitration is a procedure that is used to settle disputes between you and your attorney in the presence of a neutral, third-party.

Check your contract. Before considering arbitration, you should always carefully check your contract that you have with your attorney. Many times, these contracts include mandatory arbitration clauses for things like fee disputes, meaning you can't sue your attorney before going through arbitration.

I'd hire someone to keep the hamsters away!

If that rumour comes true, id give up drinking and instead of the legion, I would start hanging out at the local Starbucks!

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Peeps, you taking the corporate MC jet back? Lol, just joking wish you a safe Travel home!

peeps, safe travels with your 5 ferrets but word of advise, make sure you don't have any stowaway hamsters in your luggage . I hope when you arrive in Canada, we will have some good news for you. All the best. Bon Voyage! And don't forget to pack a brush!

Miss E

That would be Thursday. Miss Edna

I'll buy some beer

People with no feedback glean whatever they can from Rumour and hearsay...I grow weary of these rumours and want this to all come to pass. Post haste.

Didn't MuckTuckAnnie say that on Mar 7th an announcement by Peter Mansbridge on CBC news announcing that the Feds will pay the legal fees of 12.8 mil I believe that was the suggestion. Let's hope this is true. Wouldn't that be the right thing to do for all the class.

Miss E

Tomorrow is the beginning of week three, so here's hoping !

Hopefully he or she returns and we just get on getting on with one another on csat. Respect is key and always a two way street so here's to hoping . Meanwhile we wait for a decision from Justice Barnes.

Miss Edna

See we ran off MuckTuckAnnie and now csat is a quiet place without your humor and tidbits of information that he or she provided on a daily basis. Nav said to come back! I concur.

Miss Edna

No one ran off Grassshopper. They left as they always do after 1 or 2 posts that have no value and return as another avatar. The humor they stick i the middle of such foolish posts is just there to make ya think they are not being nasty.

So eventually grasshopper will return maybe this time a little more respectful and interested in making a valued contribution..... Ya never know who Grasshopper will be. But when they return respectfully people will just accept them no problem.

Hope you feel better soon RR.

Sure is quiet out there just want to inform you all have had a miserable bout of the nastiest flue of the bronchial type, On meds and rightfully so some may think Robbie should have never went off his meds lol, but I hope we hear something soon, a big shout out to my buddy Rucksack031 and our brother still thinking of you, and too my very very very proud Recon loved the pics and boy you have a wonderful looking family