CHEAP LAWYERS ARE HARD TO FIND
All lawyers are expensive. To make family lawsuits more stressful, most people who need a divorce, or to terminate parental rights, or to probate an estate, don’t save or plan for that divorce lawyer, or adoption lawyer, or probate lawyer. Finding an affordable, quality lawyer is your first challenge.
You will not find a cheap lawyer at Held Law Firm, but you will find lawyers who understand the challenge of paying legal fees, and who commit themselves to being worth the price. Our first step is to give you a realistic estimate of what your family law case is going to cost. While we cannot guarantee a particular price, here is a list of what we consider when estimating your legal fees, and what you should budget for.
- · Prepare to pay for costs. Many lawyers quote a retainer but fail to tell you that you must pay court costs on top. Our quotes include our estimate of court costs. Court costs run $200-$400, depending on the Court. Lawyers do not control the amount of court costs, but lawyers can save court costs by settling smaller issues outside of court. Having a lawyer who pays attention to details, like being brief when writing documents and fitting as many words as possible on one page, rather than filing a two page document, saves you a few dollars in court costs. While you might be able to shift costs to the other side, to be safe, budget around $1,000 for court costs.
- · Prepare to pay fees above lawyer fees. Many lawyers also do not include fees in their quote. We do, which makes our quotes higher than our competition. Fees can include mediation costs (link to what to expect in mediation blog), court reporter fees, expert witness fees, such as for an Independent Medical Evaluation (link to blog), fees for a process server, and fees for medical records and other evidence.
- · Get a good lawyer and hope your ex does too. If THEIR lawyer is honest, competent, and willing to work, YOU will save thousands of dollars. If they hire a bad lawyer, your cost will likely double, because you will have to pay your lawyer to keep their lawyer honest and to drag them into court to make them do their job.
- · Do not trust AI. AI’s advice is exactly wrong more than half the time, because AI did not go to law school. AI knows nothing about your case’s unique details and you likely do not know exactly what question to ask. AI knows nothing about local court policies and local judge preferences.
- · Offer to help, but do not try to do your lawyer’s job. Clients interested in saving money offer, “I’ll do all the work for you.” These clients do not help, any more than offering to help your plumber fix a toilet actually helps. However, our divorce lawyers often save clients money by asking you to pick up documents, such as school records, tax returns, and medical records. If you are too busy, we will pick them up for you, but each record you can deliver usually saves you a couple hundred dollars on your bill.
- · What are your goals? The more ambitious your goals are, the more you will likely pay your attorney. We attempt to get clear client direction. If you change goals, we can accommodate you, but expect to pay for your lawyer to develop the new strategy reflecting the new goal. Generally, once we agree on legal strategy, stick to the plan. Clients who change their mind pay more legal fees. Also, take our advice. Our advice considers risks, benefits, and costs relative to your goals for your family. Clients who fail to follow our advice pay more in legal fees.
- · How fast can your lawyer work? Cases that stay open a long time cost more. Lawyers who move the case quickly usually save money, because when a divorce is pending, more family crises happen due to the financial and emotional stress caused by divorce.
- · How often do you want to talk to your lawyer? You should budget for your preferred attorney-client communication method, keeping the following considerations in mind.
- Emails are the cheapest and fastest way to communicate with your lawyer, but while email is great to exchange information, you will not get as nuanced, considered response as you will if you talk to your family lawyer on the phone. Our lawyers charge a flat rate of $30-$40 per email. Many other divorce lawyers charge as much as $150 per email.
- Phone calls with your lawyer are more thorough, but you will not get as the answer as fast, because divorce and parental rights lawyers are usually in court at least part of the day and preparing for the next case even when we are in the office. You also do not get a written response to refer to from a phone call. Typically, phone calls with our lawyers cost between $80-$200, which is less than what other comparable divorce lawyers charge ($120 -$250).
- In person consultations are best for making sure all of your questions get answers, but in-person consultations are the most expensive way to communicate with your lawyer, and you likely will have to wait weeks to get an appointment. For this reason, we only schedule appointments at key moments in your case, generally at the beginning, to set your goals, and if you are going to a trial and you will testify.
- Don’t trust a lawyer who texts important information. The “instant” nature of texts means your lawyer is likely in the middle of some other case and not giving their full attention to your case.
-Does your lawyer employ a good paralegal? Paralegals are a client’s secret weapon. Paralegals cannot give legal advice, but paralegals can tell you almost anything else you want to know about your case, such as when your court date is, where to park, what to bring, who can come with you to court, what to wear, who your judge is, whether we have heard back from the other lawyer, how to handle the latest crisis, how to answer that hard question… Paralegals gather evidence and organize it. Talking to your lawyer’s paralegal will keep your case moving quickly, and getting the paralegal the information she requests quickly will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in legal fees. Even if your paralegal cannot help you, they can triage the problem and get your lawyer to act quickly. Paralegals are such cost-savers for clients that we encourage you to ask to meet the paralegal when you first meet with your lawyer. If your lawyer does not have a paralegal, expect to pay more and get less value.
-Does your lawyer send monthly statements? Your lawyer’s monthly statement tells you what they did on your case and is your way to hold your lawyer accountable for the money you have paid for legal fees and costs. For more on lawyer billing, read these articles-HOW TO READ YOUR BILL and IOLTA accounts. Held Law Firm employs a dedicated financial planner so that you know what you are paying for and what to budget for. (link to Kasie’s bio)
-Be ready to hear the truth. Yes, lawyers should support you emotionally through this process, but we do you no favors by shielding you from all the possible consequences from any decision you make. You need to know the risks, costs and benefits for every realistic course of action in your divorce, adoption or other family law case.
With over 60 years of legal experience, Held Law Firm takes pride in our team of lawyers and paralegals (link to about use page) who have dedicated ourselves to providing the best value possible to all of our clients, whether they come to us with an uncontested divorce, or a hard fought termination of parental rights case, or an emotionally charged probate case. Part of our job is to save you money on legal fees whenever we can. When you meet with one of our lawyers, please ask questions about how we can save you money in your particular case. We’ll be happy to make suggestions.