Very few attorneys will actually tell you how much they charge per hour, or how much they require as an initial retainer until AFTER they’ve met with you, know your assets, know your income, and know how much you can afford to pay them.   Here are my rates:

1. $235 per hour for every hour I work on your case whether I’m in the office or in Court;
2. $90 per hour for work that should be done by a paralegal, even if it’s done by me;
3. $70 per hour for work that should be done by a secretary, even if it’s done by me.

I break my hourly rate down by tenths of hours–if something only takes me 6 minutes, you’re only charged one tenth of an hour ($23.50).  I do have some set fees, like a minimum of 1 hour for every court appearance; however, I do not charge additional time for preparation for status dates, conferences with counsel or client while I’m in the courthouse, and I do not charge extra for the various other work that’s done during that time.  Attorneys who do not charge “minimum billing” often do charge for all the “extras”.  In the end, you end up paying MORE without minimum schedules and have no idea how much everything costs until AFTER the fees have been earned and you’ve been charged.

Also, I do “NO-CHARGE” for some work for some clients.  Many times a client will call just to check on the status of the case and leaves a voice-mail “Just checking in, have you heard from X?”  To most attorney’s, that’s a 0.2 (2 tenths of an hour charge).  I don’t charge a cent.  Whether or not work is done as a “no-charge” is at my sole discretion and is made on a case by case basis.

Don’t be misled by those who say you’ll “save” money by hiring attorneys who don’t have “minimum billing”.  ”Minimum billing” is a misleading term.  It implies you will be charge “at least” a set amount by maybe more.  ”Minimum billing” practices are the only way you know how much you can expect to pay.  Without this style of billing, you have no idea how much any particular service will cost or how much an attorney is going to bill you for their work.

BUDGETED CASES

As a general rule my initial retainer is set at the cost of an uncontested divorce case; however, there are cases where client’s simply can’t afford to put $1,5000 – $2,000 on retainer at one time.  In some cases, as determined by me alone, I will either break up the initial retainer into installments, or develop a monthly payment plan to work within your budget.

If you’ve read this far, whether you know it or not, you’ve already made the commitment, mentally, to get a divorce.  Now that you’ve made the commitment, I want to help.